Schoolboy James Wilson admits his ‘head was spinning’ after his Hearts manager stunned him with news of his first Scotland call-up.
The Balerno High School pupil has been named in Steve Clarke’s squad for the Nations League play-off double header against Greece after hitting six goals for Hearts this season.
The 18-year-old has not even featured in the Scotland Under-21 squad – and the news delivered by Neil Critchley caught him by surprise.
When asked to summarise his reaction, Wilson told Hearts TV: ‘Just surprise. really. It’s a massive moment. I wasn’t really expecting it but I’m just looking forward to it.
‘I found out from the manager. He was playing a little joke with me, telling me I had bad news and then he broke the news to me and my head was spinning. At training I was just contemplating what was happening.’
This time last year, Wilson was starting on the bench for Scotland Under-19s.
Schoolboy James Wilson has been included after impressing for Hearts this season
Scotland boss Steve Clarke has brought two 18-year-olds into his senior squad
Motherwell skipper Lennon Miller has also been called up for the Nations League play-off
‘It’s just over a year ago I made my (Hearts) debut and really I have only started playing a lot of minutes in the last three or four months. It’s just been a crazy, crazy couple of months.
‘Everyone tells you in football how quickly it changes and that’s been proven to me now.’
Wilson has been selected ahead of team-mate Lawrence Shankland but will have Hearts keeper Craig Gordon for support in his first Scotland camp. Wilson was not even been born when Gordon, 42, made his international debut.
‘I spoke to him just as we came in from training. He was saying I might need to sing a song or something like that,’ said Wilson. ‘But they will be a really good group, they will look after me, he will look after me.’
Motherwell midfielder Lennon Miller, 18 has also been called up.
His club posted a video of the teenager finding out he was in the squad while looking at a colleague’s mobile phone on the training pitch.
Miller, whose dad Lee played for Scotland, said: ‘It’s brilliant. I never expected it, to be honest. I expected to be in the 21s. It’s a proud moment for me.
‘I’ve been working hard to try and play as well as I can for Motherwell, and to get that recognition is brilliant.
‘I still need to work hard for Motherwell and to keep my spot in that squad. I will keep my head down and work as hard as I can.”
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