Ross County defender Paul Quinn believes Tony Dingwall has the potential to become a standout for club and country after the midfielder announced his arrival in Scottish football in spectacular style at the weekend.
The 20-year-old, a product of the club’s youth system, scored his first goals for the club as the Staggies drew 2-2 with Motherwell at Fir Park on Saturday.
Quinn believes Dingwall has all the qualities required to become an international player and said: “Tony has got a huge chance. He’s got pace, he’s strong. He’s got the lot. His feet are also firmly on the ground, he’s a great kid and he’s working hard.
“It’s good for Scotland because if he keeps progressing in the next 12 to 18 months I’m sure he’ll either move on to bigger and better things or we’ll see him in a Scotland shirt.
“He hasn’t scored enough but he scored two to get us off the bottom of the table. He looks dangerous and gave Motherwell’s left back a hard time. We can expect big things from him but it’s still early days. We want to get up the table and then let him play with a bit of freedom.
“There is so much pressure on a player like Tony. When I was playing in the south and there were good young players coming through at Doncaster and Cardiff City they didn’t have the same pressure.
“He’s got a huge chance. I was at Motherwell when James McFadden was coming through but they’re slightly different. James could change a game in a heartbeat.”
Former Motherwell defender Quinn was relieved his young team-mate spared his blushes with his double at Fir Park.
Quinn spurned a glorious chance to make it 2-0 to County when he shot over the crossbar with his side leading 1-0. Within minutes Well had scored twice to move into the ascendancy before Dingwall’s added-time equaliser.
Quinn said: “It was kitchen sink material at the end but I didn’t think we deserved to be 2-1 down. Our goalkeeper hardly had a save to make. They defended well but I had chances and so did Michael Gardyne and it was great we got there.
“It’s a big thing to get off the bottom of the table but we were more disappointed at being 2-1 down in a game in which we were in control.”