Wednesday 11 November 2015 08:26, UK
Scotland manager Gordon Strachan says playing regular club football, and not U21 matches, is the stepping stone to a full international cap.
Strachan, who signed a contract extention last month, is helping U21 coach Ricky Sbragia prepare his squad for their European Qualifier against Ukraine on Friday evening.
The Scots lie fourth in Group Three with a win, draw and a defeat from the opening three games of their campaign and Strachan will run the rule over the players involved at St Mirren Park.
However, the former Celtic boss is adamant playing at that level is no guarantee of a step up to the senior side.
"If you look at Messi and Ronaldo they regularly play 55 or 65 games a season and that's the mental state you have to be in to be a top, top player and I'm looking for people who can deal with that," he said.
"Are they good enough to come in here and not look out of place with Morrison, Brown, Mulgrew, Fletcher and Alan Hutton? Can they come in here and deal with that?
"People say playing for the U21s is a stepping stone to a full international cap but it's not really. A stepping stone is playing regularly in your first team. It can't be a stepping stone playing for the U21s then going back and playing U21 football somewhere else."
Despite failing to lead Scotland to their first major finals since 1998, Strachan believes the lessons learned from Euro 2016 will benefit them in their World Cup qualifying campaign.
The Scots have been grouped with England, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania and Malta and Strachan hopes 'a superstar' will emerge from the U21s to aid their quest for a place in Russia in 2018.
"I hope there's a young superstar out there. Our system will probably be the same, unless two or three players develop who are magnificent. But I can't see that on the horizon so we go with what we have done," he said.
"So we have a good spirit, you have to be part of that spirit. I can't see anything changing dramatically. What we have to have is a wee bit more technical ability in the last third - and a wee bit more luck would be handy.
"I hope these greats come through in the next couple of years but if they don't then we have to be prepared to continue what we are doing; make as many chances as we do."
