Mark Wilson hopes Celtic focus won't hinder Scotland ambition

MARK Wilson is hopeful that his single-minded determination to preserve his place as Celtic's first choice right-back has not obstructed his hopes of achieving the same status with his country.

The 27-year-old earned a long-awaited call up to the Scotland squad last season, making his senior international debut in the 3-0 Carling Nations Cup defeat of Northern Ireland in Dublin in February. Wilson enjoyed a highly impressive second half of the campaign with Celtic, delivering a series of effective performances for Neil Lennon's side. Now Celtic's longest serving player, he has been plagued by injury problems since signing from Dundee United in January 2006 but finally managed to maintain a consistent presence in the starting line-up last term.

Ongoing concerns over his troublesome knee, however, prompted Wilson to pull out of Craig Levein's squad for the end of season Nations Cup games against Wales and Republic of Ireland in order to give himself as much recovery time as possible for the new campaign.

"Hopefully that's not going to jeopardise me being involved with Scotland in the future," said Wilson. "My knee problem is well documented and I was struggling with it for the last month of the season. If I'd gone away with Scotland to train and play in Dublin at the end of May, it wouldn't have put me in a good place for pre-season with Celtic.

"I had a few weeks off and I definitely feel the benefit now, so looking back it was a good decision.

"Last season was my best for Celtic, I enjoyed my football. I always felt if I got a run in the team I could keep my place and that's what happened from January onwards.

"I also got international recognition which was nice because it had been on my mind for a long time and I did think the chance had maybe passed me by. So it was great to get the call from Scotland. I just hope I can follow that up with more games for Scotland this season."

Wilson's immediate priority will be to hold off the challenge of new signing Adam Matthews and Cha Du Ri to reinforce his status as Lennon's number one pick in the right-back role for Celtic.

"Adam has done very well in pre-season since joining us from Cardiff, and with Cha also here, there are three of us fighting for the jersey," added Wilson. "I'm sure the manager knows who will be handed it for our first league game against Hibs on Sunday and I just hope it's me. You know where you stand then for the rest of the season.

"My attitude to the competition for places is 'bring it on'. Having someone pushing you for your place is helpful. I've been on the edges in the past, trying to force my way into the team, too many times. This season I want to start as first pick and leave it up to Adam to try and replace me.

"I wouldn't feel hard done to if I don't play on Sunday, that's the nature of the game. The manager watches training and is the best judge of players. What happened last season doesn't necessarily mean I'm going to be first choice this season. There will be a bit of rotation along the way, especially with the size of squad we have, but I know I have to start this season the way I finished the last one if I want to hold down my place."

Regardless of Lennon's team selection this weekend, Wilson is full of praise for the manager's success in creating a sense of unity and positive team spirit in the Celtic dressing room, something the defender says is in stark contrast to the atmosphere under predecessors Tony Mowbray and Gordon Strachan. "I think the group of players we have got now at Celtic are really welcoming to any new boys who come in," observed Wilson. "This year and last year's group are certainly more welcoming than the group of players I've seen at Celtic previously, going back to when I signed.

"There were many cliques back then but this group and last year's group are very close-knit. I think it's all to do with the management. They have a big part to play in that with the way they handle things."