Talks of senior call-ups are testament to U21's attitude, says Scot Gemmill

Interim Scotland manager Mackay claimed on Monday that several of Gemmill's squad would have been included in his squad for a friendly against Holland were it not for the fact they had two important European qualifiers against Latvia and Ukraine.

The likes of St Mirren's Lewis Morgan and Motherwell midfielder Chris Cadden have been enjoying success with their clubs and Gemmill has been delighted by the progress of everyone.

"It would be unfair to speak about players individually but their performances are doing the talking,'' said Gemmill, whose side have six points from three matches.

"The fact people are talking about them possibly being moved up the full squad is testament to the level of performances they are consistently delivering.

"It's not a real science, sometimes it comes through opportunity if a full-squad player is injured or suspended, and then there have been recent occasions where players have gone from Under-19 level straight into the full squad. Players find their way. Their performances at their club are obviously key as well.

"But the key message to the players, and something they are really aware of, is they know if they can reach the required levels they will be given an opportunity.

"If you look at the full squad, you can see most of the players have played at younger age levels and are now established internationals, so the motivation is there for the players to keep pushing.''

Fourteen of Mackay's 24-man squad play in Scotland and the figure is higher for the Under-21s - 19 out of 23 are home-based.

And Gemmill feels that is a positive reflection on the domestic scene.

"I think there's real justification for them being given the opportunity,'' he said. "The players are consistently playing at a very good level. It's a long time since the Under-21s have had so many players playing consistently every Saturday.

"It's what we all wanted and what we feel is really going to propel them upwards.''

West Brom winger Oliver Burke misses out for the double header because of a hamstring injury while winger Michael Johnston - who started for Celtic against Kilmarnock on Saturday - has dropped down to the Under-19s for a trio of European qualifiers.

St Mirren midfielder Kyle Magennis has been called up to join Paisley team-mates Liam Smith and Morgan in the squad.

Gemmill's side play both of this month's qualifiers at McDiarmid Park, facing Latvia on November 10 and Ukraine four days later