If pride in wearing the national jersey translated into goals, Tommy Conway would weigh in with a barrow load for Scotland.
He may have grown up in and around Bristol – with the accent to prove it – but his family roots mean a lot when it comes to football.
“I know my grandad will be looking down and he’ll be proud. I had my family at Hampden as well, so overall it’s just a really proud day,” Conway said after making his international debut against Finland in June.
“To play on the international stage for your country is the pinnacle.”
It was a match in which he very nearly gained instant hero status. He could – perhaps should – have scored a dramatic, late winner. His header was saved though, by a superb reflex stop from Viljami Sinisalo, who’s now back-up to Kasper Schmeichel at Celtic.
“I did think it was in for a split second. I’ve obviously hit the goalie. Scott McTominay asked me why I haven’t scored. I said I was just saving it for next time.”
Scotland fans will hope the 22-year-old is as sharp in front of goal in dark blue as he is with the one-liners.
McTominay and Aston Villa’s John McGinn have found the net regularly for Scotland in recent times. They have had to.
Sourcing a goalscorer has been a problem for several Scotland managers – so could Conway be the answer?
Although Steve Clarke did not play him at Euro 2024, Scotland’s head coach plucked the Taunton-born striker from the under-21 fold and seems to rate him.
“Tommy’s been good around the group,” Clarke said. “I know him quite well. He’s somebody I’ve been watching. He’s slightly different to the type of forward we’ve got in that he’ll try to get off the back of defenders a little bit more.”
And what is it that made Clarke promote from within and made Michael Carrick’s Middlesbrough offer him a four-year contract when his Bristol City deal expired last summer?
The obvious answer is goals. Five in 12 appearances for Boro since his switch to the Riverside and 25 in 92 games for Bristol City, whose academy he joined at the age of seven.
