Leeds eager to hold on to Snodgrass, says Peter Lorimer

THE resurgence of Scottish international players appearing in the top flight of English football last season was a welcome development as far as Peter Lorimer was concerned.

But the man whose thunderbolt of a right foot lit up a stellar career for both Leeds United and Scotland is hopeful at least one of Craig Levein's current squad can resist the lure of the English Premier League this summer.

Lorimer, now a director at Leeds, has no doubt that his club's hottest property Robert Snodgrass is destined for great things. Both Newcastle United and Norwich City have been linked with moves for the 23-year-old forward whose progress since joining Leeds from Livingston three years ago sees him valued at around 5 million.

With Leeds set for another season of Championship football after missing out on promotion, Lorimer says they are determined to keep Snodgrass.

"There are a number of Premier League teams looking at Robert but you would expect that," said Lorimer. "We want to keep him. The biggest problem any club like ours has is the call of the Premier League. When they come in for a player, they can be very insistent.

"But I think we will get up either next season or the one after, because we are bordering on getting back to where we were. So my advice to any player would be to stay. We get big crowds, there is a big atmosphere, they can play every week and they will be enjoying their football.

"We have lost a fair few players to Premier League clubs for decent money but they have spent half their time sitting on the bench. I don't think that's good for any young lad.

"Robert is a nice lad. On form, he is definitely our best player, although I'm obviously biased as a fellow Scot. He is a smashing player."

Snodgrass won his first two senior Scotland caps earlier this year, against Northern Ireland and Brazil, but injury forced him to miss the end of season Carling Nations Cup games in Dublin. Levein's squad for that tournament included 12 players with English Premier League clubs, albeit the trio of Charlie Adam, Stephen Crainey and Matt Gilks were relegated with Blackpool.

The present crop of Scots in the English top flight certainly cannot match the dozen who were in the country's World Cup Finals squad back in 1974, Lorimer's finest year. "In my day, every good English team had three or four Scottish players," reflects Lorimer. "It is the big question that everyone asks me now in England. They say 'What's happened to all the good young Scottish players?' It's something no-one really has the answer for.

"But in the last couple of years, there have been more Scottish lads doing well in England. We have certainly seen a move in the right direction."