Sunday 30 August 2015 13:00, UK
Mark McGhee believes Shaun Maloney's return to British football can help Scotland in their final push for a place at next summer's European Championships.
The former Celtic, Wigan and Aston Villa player signed for Hull City this week after a short-lived stay with MLS side Chicago Fire.
Maloney has been a key player for the Scots in their qualifying games so far, scoring four goals and forcing his team's leveller in their last match, a 1-1 draw with Ireland in June.
Gordon Strachan's assistant McGhee admits the 32-year-old forward's age might soon have begun to work against him if he had continued with 7,000-mile round trips for internationals.
His decision to join Hull on a two-year deal saves Maloney from potentially having to sacrifice his career with his country.
Instead, McGhee feels he can keep combining club football with games with Scotland and thinks the country can benefit from him being based closer to home.
The former Aberdeen boss told Sky Sports: "He's obviously made a superb contribution but I know when he went there (Chicago) he was concerned he'd put himself out of the picture.
"Gordon's such a fan of his and he has done such a job for Gordon and the team that we couldn't ignore him.
"But having him back in Britain now might make playing a lot easier for him. Playing at the competitive end of the Championship will be important for him to draw the best out of him.
"To be competing at that level every week will maintain him. Gordon and I have said for a long time the best way to stay a good player is to play with good players.
"One of the things about Shaun is he's a totally committed boy and he's very conscientious so he wouldn't have wanted to do anything that would have meant he couldn't do everything for his club.
"He'd have had to had to make a decision but this makes it a lot easier for him to maintain his position in the squad and still make a big contribution to his team.
"He has such a desire to play for his country. He wants to play for Gordon and all of that has made him a player who comes with absolutely the right attitude."
Scotland's squad meets on Sunday ahead of European qualifiers against Georgia and Germany on September 4 and 7.
McGhee knows there are plenty of distractions such as the forthcoming meeting with the world champions and a couple of dates with England in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
But he is adamant the Scots are focused solely on trying to get three points on Friday in Tbilisi, a place where their European dreams unravelled in the preliminaries eight years ago.
McGhee, speaking at the Action for Children charity golf day at Gleneagles, added: "There's a nervous anticipation.
"We want to get to the games and get them on. The game in Georgia first is massive and we're totally focused on that.
"Nothing else is distracting us, not the Germany game, not any outcomes, not the future, not the World Cup. We're totally focused on the Georgia game and we expect the players to be the same."
