Ritchie Earns Scotland Call

Bournemouth winger Matt Ritchie has been given a surprise call-up to Gordon Strachan's Scotland squad for this month's double header against Northern Ireland and Gibraltar. The 25-year-old was born in Gosport but qualifies for the Dark Blues thanks to his Scottish-born father Alex. Fulham striker Ross McCormack and Blackburn hitman Jordan Rhodes have been recalled to Strachan's 26-man squad - but there is no place for new Celtic duo Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven. Ritchie started his career at Portsmouth but also had loan stints at Dagenham & Redbridge, Notts County and Swindon before signing permanently for the Robins in 2011. He was on the move two years later when he switched to Bournemouth and has played an important role as Eddie Howe's side have stormed to the top of the SkyBet Championship. Ritchie has scored 11 times for the Cherries so far this season, including two in a 5-1 win at Fulham a fortnight ago. Scotland take on Northern Ireland in a Hampden friendly a week on Wednesday before hosting European Championship qualifying opponents Gibraltar on Sunday, March 29. Strachan's side sit third in Group D with seven points from four games, while Gibraltar - UEFA's newest member - are bottom with no points from the same number of fixtures, having failed to score a single goal while conceding 21.