ST JOHNSTONE manager Sandy Clark last night urged Craig Brown to give goalkeeper Alan Main a Scotland recall for next month's Euro 2000 qualifiers.
With the games against Bosnia and the Czech Republic looming, national coach Brown has still to decide who will join Jonathan Gould and Neil Sullivan in the squad, but Clark believes Main should be an automatic choice
following his showing against Hearts at Tynecastle last Saturday.
The keeper pulled off a miraculous save to help his side to a 2-0 victory and Clark said: ''If there's any better keeper in Scotland then I don't know where he is. There have been games where he hasn't had a lot to do, and I still don't know how he saved that one on Saturday.
''There's no question he is a quality keeper. If he has to make just one save in a game then he's ready to do it.''
Main will line up against the main contender for the third-choice spot in the Tayside derby this weekend, Dundee goalkeeper Robert Douglas, and Clark said he would be disappointed if his keeper is overlooked because of the fact he is playing for the unfashionable McDiarmid Park club.
He added: ''He's been showing that sort of form since the first division days. I'd find it strange if Scotland haven't been looking at guys like Alan and John O'Neil. It would be tough if they weren't being given a chance because they're Saints players.
''I know Alan had a bad time in the international set-up when he was given just a few minutes in a B game, but he has the quality to start at the highest level. Then it would be down to him to take his chance.''
q FORMER Rangers defender Craig Moore has lost out on a move to Birmingham City - because his #6000-a-week wages were away out of City's league.
St Andrews manager Trevor Francis wanted the Australian internationalist to boost his side's Premiership promotion chances just four months after his move from Rangers to Crystal Palace.
Francis said: ''I went to see Craig play for Palace on Saturday and spoke to Steve Coppell about him, but the stumbling block is that our wage scale does not match that of Crystal Palace.
''Of course, it's good for Craig, but what he earns at Palace isn't close to what we can match.
''I think Craig is a great player and, I''m sure he would have done well for Birmingham.
''However, we have a wage structure and I think we will now have to look elsewhere.''
Moore left Ibrox last year when Dick Advocaat decided to sell him on, despite a solid start to the season.
He was also linked with a return to Rangers to ease Palace's financial problems, but could now see out the season with the London club.
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