Scot Gemmill appointed Scotland U21 coach

Scot Gemmill has been appointed as the new coach of Scotland U21s, with Ricky Sbragia moving to work with the U16s through to U19s.

Gemmill, who led Scotland to three successive European U17 Championship finals, will take charge for their remaining European Championship qualifiers.

The Scots are out of contention for a place at next summer's U21 European Championship finals in Poland.

Gemmill said: "I am very proud to have been given the opportunity to coach the U21s. 

"After working with the U17s and U19s, I feel ready for and excited by the challenge ahead.

"I believe we have a number of very talented young players coming through and I will do everything I can to support their development and prepare them for the senior squad.

"Ricky Sbragia has been invaluable to my own personal development and is a driving force behind these changes, so I would like to thank him for his support.

"We have less than a year to prepare for the start of the next European Championship qualifiers and the hard work will begin in October for the matches against Iceland and FYR Macedonia."

Sbragia said: "It was disappointing to miss out on a place at next summer's European Championship but succession planning is something we have discussed for a while at the Scottish FA and it was always the intention for Scot to move to the 21s for the next campaign.

"Scot is a very talented coach and deserves the chance to make the step up to U21 level and work with the players he knows well from U17 and U19 level."