SCOTLAND manager Craig Brown indicated yesterday that he will need some extra thinking time before finalising his pool of 22 players who, he feels, will best achieve the hopes of a nation.

Speaking at Forthbank Stadium after the national Under-16 side were held to a goalless draw by the Republic of Ireland in the EUFA European Under-16 Champion-ships, Brown revealed he will give himself an extension to the deadline he had set for naming his squad for France 98.

Instead of making his decision public on the original date - Monday, May 11 - he will now reveal his World Cup hopefuls two days later. ''There are still two weeks of the season remaining and I will be watching the matches closely,'' he said. ''I was going to announce the final squad on the Monday but that's a holiday and on the Tuesday I'll be coaching.''

Brown also added that he had intended to get his squad together then in order to begin preparations at the earliest possible time, but he had to ditch that plan as several of them would be involved in matches.

Said Brown: ''At that time Hearts play Rangers in the Scottish Cup final, Celtic are travelling to Portugal, and Christian Dailly will be taking part in a testimonial match down south for Paul McGrath.''

Inevitably, in light of Ally McCoist's omission from the Rangers starting line-up in Saturday's defeat of Hearts, the question was posed as to the veteran's chances of being included in the travelling party.

Although refusing to commit himself, Brown did say: ''I will wait to see what happens with him between now and the end of the season and also see how the other contenders are doing.''

That will not exactly be music to the ears of the Rangers attacker, bearing in mind that he therefore has only three games in which to seal his place.

On his dropping down to the bench again at Tynecastle on Saturday, where he made a minute-long appearance, Brown added: ''I admit that I would like him to get more than just a minute but I don't want to be seen to be picking Walter's team for him.''

After watching the Kilmarnock v Aberdeen game on Saturday, presumably to check on the form of Eoin Jess, Jim Leighton, and Derek Whyte, the trip to Forthbank for the Under-16s encounter provided Brown with some light relief in what must be a mentally strenuous time.

Commenting on the match, Brown observed that it was a ''good game with plenty of incident.''

Much has been made of the low-key approach which has been adopted for the championships, with obvious comparisons with the memorable Under-16 World Cup held in Scotland.

That competition captured the imagination of the public, as the Scots marched on to the final at Hampden Park in front of 54,000 fans to go down in penalties to the Saudi Arabians.

Brown, though, dismissed such comparisons. ''There is a lot of important football being played just now in the country, whereas in 1989 there were no distractions,'' he said.

''I'm sure that it will take off if the Scots qualify for the quarter-finals. I'm going to Perth on Tuesday for the Spain match and I'm sure it will be a good game for the supporters to watch.''

q Jackie McNamara is celebrating today after being saluted by his fellow professionals as their Player of the Year.

The Scotland and Celtic midfielder was cheered by team-mates last night at the Scottish Players Union annual dinner in Glasgow as he collected his award.

And a beaming McNamara said: ''This is especially important for me as it comes through the votes of other professionals - players I play with and against throughout the season.''

However, Players' Union secretary Tony Higgins revealed that McNamara had to fight off a challenge from his Celtic teammate Craig Burley to win.

Said Higgins: ''The voting between the two was extremely tight, with Jackie just edging it.''

Hearts' outstanding young defender Gary Naysmith was also among the honours to emphasise the successful season at Tynecastle, for he is the Young Player of the Year.

First division champions Dundee had more to celebrate as their little striker James Grady picked up the award for the Player of the Year in their division.

Clydebank defender Paul Lovering, who has been watched by a number of major clubs, collected the award for the second division.

To add to a weekend of celebration for third division promotion winners Alloa, their experienced midfielder Willie Irvine is the third division Player of the yYear.

The Players' Union also presented merit awards to the former Morton manager Allan McGraw and former referee Tom Wharton.