Mark Reynolds hopes his form for Aberdeen will be rewarded with a return to the Scotland set-up next month.
The 27-year-old was left out of Gordon Strachan’s squad for November’s matches against England and Republic of Ireland at Parkhead. But the defender, who has played every minute for the Dons this season, hopes he is still in Strachan’s thoughts for next month’s double-header against Northern Ireland and Gibraltar.
Reynolds, who has captained the Dons this term in the absence of long-term injury victim Russell Anderson, was an unused substitute in last year’s Euro 2016 qualifiers against Germany and Georgia.
Reynolds remains uncapped but is heartened to know he is knocking on the door of a first appearance for his country.
He said: “I was being brought in when the manager was carrying a 26-man or 27-man squad and, in terms of defenders, I was probably one of the last in. He cut back the squad by a couple of players for the last couple of games and I dropped out.
“Before I got the first couple of call-ups you never knew how far away you were from the squad. He could have had a list of 30 defenders and I could have been 30th on the list and I would never have known.
“It is nice to know I am a lot nearer the top than I maybe thought before.
“I have always said I need to keep playing the way I can for Aberdeen and, hopefully, that’s enough.”
Reynolds is facing additional competition in the squad from fellow Dons defender Ash Taylor, who will miss today’s match against St Mirren with a knee injury.
Despite being born in England, Taylor represented Wales at under-19 and under-21 levels but also qualifies for Scotland through his grandparents.
Reynolds says Taylor has taken plenty of ribbing from his Dons team-mates after announcing his intention to switch international allegiance but he reckons the former Tranmere Rovers player could make the step up to the national team.
Reynolds said: “He has been taking a lot of stick.
“I think he has three or four teams he can play for and you would think he would be quite happy to put on a kilt and go sing the national anthem.
“It would be a strange one but stranger things have happened. He is a good player and he is still young. We will see what happens but it has been great to play alongside him.”