Celtic have plenty of players on senior international duty.
As Brendan Rodgers works with his squad during the break in Lennoxtown, the likes of Daizen Maeda and Cameron Carter-Vickers are in action in other corners of the globe.
Scotland moved a step closer to a historic World Cup qualification with a 3-1 win against Greece on Thursday, with Hoops pair Kieran Tierney and Anthony Ralston coming off the bench.
For Scotland’s Under-21s, things were a slight bit more comfortable. They are in qualification action for the 2027 Euros in Albania and Serbia.
Their first qualifying match in September against Portugal ended up in defeat, but on this occasion against minnows at Dens Park, they managed a record-breaking result.
Young Celtic pair star on international duty
Gibraltar aren’t exactly known as an international powerhouse, so anything other than a Scotland win on Thursday would’ve been seen as a catastrophe.
But you don’t win 12-0 very often – exemplified by the fact that this was the side’s biggest ever winning margin.
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Two different players scored hat-tricks for the young Scots, with Man City’s Emilio Lawrence bagging four.
Scotland’s opener was set up by a fine Colby Donovan cross, continuing an excellent season so far for the teenager.
But a player getting especially positive reviews from the encounter was Hoops midfielder Kyle Ure, who is currently out on loan at Ayr United.
Ure is a holding midfield player, so he is certainly in good hands working under Celtic icon Scott Brown.
He scored Scotland’s seventh in the rout with a left-footed strike which was the pick of the bunch.
Celtic youngsters out on loan
Ure isn’t the only Celtic man on loan at Ayr – Jude Bonnar is also currently at Somerset Park, having made his Hoops bow against Aberdeen last year.
Elsewhere in the Championship, another former Celt has players from Celtic Park too, with Mark Wilson’s Partick Thistle flying high in second.
Thistle confirmed the signing of Sean McArdle last week, another player who made his senior debut for the Bhoys last season.
He joined Josh Clarke and Ben McPherson at Firhill, as well as former B team player Tsoanelo Letsosa.
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