Former Everton forward Steven Naismith has explained why he has confidence that Nathan Patterson will be able to prove his fitness for Scotland over the course of the international break.
The right-back has been on the sidelines since the beginning of April after having surgery on an ankle issue, with ruled him out of the latter portion of the Blues' season. However, his recovery in recent weeks has meant that he has been called up with his national team, starting with a World Cup qualifier against Ukraine.
The 20-year-old is still waiting for his first Premier League appearance after completing a move from Rangers in January. However, he was set to make his bow in the competition against West Ham, before his injury scuppered that plan.
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But Naismith, who now works as a coach with Scotland, believes he has seen the evidence of Patterson's natural fitness in the past - and has revealed just how long the defender has to convince manager Steve Clarke of his availability.
He said [via Edinburgh Evening News ]: "Nathan was on the pitch. He is obviously the one who came in with being injured but he has the next two days on the pitch to show that he is ready and fit.
"I think he is probably one of the ones in the squad that I have compared, in terms of his natural fitness, to Alan Hutton, who went long periods and never played (for his club) but performed well for Scotland.
"Nathan has shown that when he wasn't playing for Rangers, he played for Scotland, he played very well.
"So from that side everyone is comfortable that he could be ready and be in contention. But there is still two days for the manager to pick the team."
Scotland take on Ukraine at Hampden Park on Wednesday night, with the winners of the clash going on to face Wales in Cardiff for a place in this winter's World Cup in Qatar.
