Sam Lammers break bank confession, Jamaica eye Rangers star, Celtic 'target' has £10m tag, Hearts and Hibs injury boosts - Scottish football news

The latest news and speculation around Scottish football on Friday morning

Jamaica eye Sterling

Jamaica are hoping to persuade Rangers’ Dujon Sterling to represent them at this summer’s Gold Cup. The Reggae Boyz are in a group with Mexico, Ecuador and Venezuela and The Scottish Sun reports that manager Heimir Hallgrimsson has been impressed by scouting reports on the Ibrox player, who is able to operate in a variety of positions. Sterling, 24, has played for England at youth level but qualifies for Jamaica through parentage.

Celtic set to keep Yang

Rangers loanee Sam Lammers has been in good form at Utrecht.

South Korea expect to be without Celtic winger Yang Hjun-jun for their Olympic qualifiers next month. Yang is eligible to play for the Under-23s as they bid to make the Paris Games later in the summer but due to Celtic’s title race, manager Brendan Rodgers is unlikely to sanction an exit in April. South Korea boss Hwang Sun-hong said on squad selection: “I will have a final meeting with the staff, but this is a difficult part. We need to come up with an alternative. I am also thinking about plan B.”

Boyce could return

Hearts expect Liam Boyce to feature at some point this season, with the Northern Irishman stepping up his comeback from a tendon injury in his thigh. The 32-year-old has not played since early December but manager Steven Naismith told the Edinburgh Evening News: "Yeah, I think there's a chance that he will be back. He is progressing well and he's now back out on the grass. He is just building up but since he's back running then I would expect him to be back before the end of the season.”

Break bank for Lammers

Ireland's Sammie Szmodics is expected to be in demand this summer.

Dutch club Utrecht have revealed that they had to go over their budget to sign Sam Lammers on loan. The forward moved back to his homeland after a difficult start to life as a Rangers player and Utrecht owner Frans van Seumeren said: “I more or less pushed through to get Lammers. At one point, Jordy (Zuidam, technical director) and Ron (Jans, head coach) did a really good job and approached him. And, in the end, it was clear that Lammers wanted to come. A loan fee had to be paid, but it was not in the budget. So then you have to figure it out. At that moment, I put a little pressure on it. (It was) logical, because I saw that we were short of a striker. You don’t want to be relegated. You don’t want to get yourself into that misery, because then they’ll hang me from the (Utrecht) cathedral! So then I thought, let’s get Lammers.”

Boyle back in training

Talismanic Hibs winger Martin Boyle has been back in training this week and is therefore in contention to return to action against Rangers this weekend following his concussion. The Australian was taken to hospital earlier this month after a collision with the Gers’ John Souttar in a Scottish Cup tie and after being diagnosed with the injury, Boyle missed two Hibs matches. However, he has worked at Hibs’ East Mains training base since Tuesday and if he does not suffer any ill-effects, he should be available for the trip to Ibrox on Saturday.

Forward rated at £10m

Martin Boyle could be back for Hibs this weekend after suffering concussion.

Peter Grant says his former club Celtic would need to fork out close to £10million if they want to sign in-form Blackburn forward Sammie Szmodics. The Irishman has scored 28 goals for Rovers and has been loosely linked with Brendan Rodgers team. Grant – who played and coached at Celtic Park – knows the player well and said: “He’s not a striker; he scores a hell of a lot of goals, I seen him as a youngster before he got his move to Peterborough, at Colchester, and I was really impressed with him. I like going to games and not knowing who the personnel are. Some people jump out at you, and he jumped out at me, and I thought ‘, this kid can play’, and then not long after that, he went to Peterborough. He’s a goal threat, he scored goals, the Championship is a really difficult league, and if you’re not playing with one of the top sides, it’s even harder, and he’s constantly scored goals. He’s just a good footballer above anything else with an eye for a goal, a very good eye for a goal in big moments.” If he’s still in contract, he’ll cost a pretty penny; anyone who scores goals in the Championship will cost a right few bob anyway. Nearly £10 million.”

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