Former Rangers defender Zurab Khizanishvili is frustrated he will not get the chance to move a step closer to his target of 100 international appearances against Scotland on Saturday.
Khizanishvili has been overlooked by Georgia head coach and one-time Dundee team-mate Temuri Ketsbaia for the Euro 2016 qualifier at his old stomping ground, Ibrox.
The 33-year-old, who now plays for Dinamo Tbilisi back in his homeland, has not been selected by Ketsbaia since the 3-1 defeat to France in March 2013, leaving the central defender seven appearances short of clocking up the century milestone.
Khizanishvili, who won the League Cup with Rangers in 2005 during his two years in Glasgow, admits his international prospects do not look good under Ketsbaia.
He said: “I have retired from the coach, but not my country. I will open my heart for my country and would never retire until I stop playing. I dream of reaching 100 caps.
“He is a general, but if you have no army you are in trouble.
“Many players left the team because he criticised the players in the open.
“We beat Croatia then a few months later he complained we don’t have Messi, or that the players we have are poor.”
Khizanishvili’s four years in Scottish football began in 2001 with a move to Dundee following unsuccessful trials at English clubs Arsenal, Fulham and West Ham.
He added: “Dundee was fantastic for me. Georgi Nemsadze was like a big brother, and within two months it felt like being in Tbilisi. I was very much at home.”
And it was at Dens Park he became a team-mate of former Argentina international Claudio Caniggia. He added: “I had watched Caniggia play with Maradona at the World Cup when I was 14 and now, a few years later, I was in his team. It was unbelievable.”
The defender then made the switch on a free transfer to Rangers in 2003 and made 42 league appearances in two seasons before moving to Blackburn Rovers.
He added: “I was only playing a few games for Rangers so when Blackburn came in it was unexpected.
“It had always been a dream to play in the Premier League so, even though I would have been happy to stay at Rangers for 10 years, I had to go.”
Despite his lack of game time in Govan, Khizanishvili, who later played for Newcastle and Reading on loan before signing for Turkisk side Kayserispor, enjoyed his time under then manager Alex McLeish.
He added: “Some managers are better on the training pitch but McLeish was brilliant when it came to psychology, especially with younger players.
“When I first arrived, he didn’t blame me for mistakes and it would have been easy to pick me out. Instead, he blamed Henning Berg or the more experienced players.”