Kevin McNaughton has backed former Aberdeen team-mate Andy Considine for a maiden Scotland call-up.
Considine’s cause was championed by club boss Derek McInnes earlier this month and McNaughton, who played alongside the defender in his formative years at Pittodrie, has echoed those sentiments.
Scotland play their crucial Euro 2020 play-off semi-final against Israel at Hampden Park on March 26, with centre-backs, Aberdeen’s Scott McKenna (hamstring) and John Souttar (Achilles) of Hearts, ruled out.
Fellow Don Mikey Devlin has been in and out of McInnes’ first team this season, Norwich City’s Grant Hanley has dropped out of the last two squads through injury, while Charlie Mulgrew is out of favour at club level.
National team manager Steve Clarke will also have Motherwell’s Declan Gallagher, Kilmarnock defender Stuart Findlay and Leeds United’s Liam Cooper available, while Ryan Porteous of Hibs was drafted into the last squad against Cyprus and Kazakhstan.
However, the argument has been made for Considine as he enjoys the best form of his career and McNaughton, who played for Aberdeen between 2000 and 2006, has backed the 32-year-old to help Scotland in their time of need.
McNaughton said: “He would never let you down if you needed bodies. It would be well-deserved.
“He’s done a fair shift at Aberdeen and has always been a consistent performer.
“His performances, you would say, have made him a contender as the club’s player of the year.
“He’s a real ‘steady Eddie’ and you know what you’re getting from him.
“He might be a bit of a stop-gap but he would never let you down.”
Now-retired McNaughton won four caps of his own for Scotland across a six-year period.
Considine has four under-21 caps but has never been called up for the senior squad.
The Banchory-born defender said last week he would be “over the moon” with a call-up after the backing from McInnes, but insisted the final call landed with Clarke.
McNaughton left the Dons for Cardiff City in 2006, before going on to play for Wigan Athletic, Bolton Wanderers, Inverness Caley Thistle and Forfar Athletic.
The former full-back reckons as Considine – comfortable at either centre-back or left-back – gets older, he may have to follow his example and shift to a more central position. McNaughton added: “Full-back is going to get a wee bit more difficult for him as he gets older, as I found out.
“I finished at centre-half and sitting midfield, when I knew I was losing my legs.
“Andy will probably find in the next couple of years that it gets tougher at full-back.
“He’s always been one that chips in with goals and has done well.”