NATHAN PATTERSON is a young player I really admire and he would definitely add value to the Scotland squad if he were called up.

But given how close we are to the tournament and with both friendlies arranged after Steve Clarke finalises his squad, I just can’t see him featuring at the Euros this summer.

He’s definitely come on leaps and bounds covering for James Tavernier at Rangers in recent times and you can see he’s getting more confident and getting better with every game.

If he continues to improve as I believe he will, then he’ll definitely be a Scotland player at some point in future. 

At this moment in time, though, Steve will be weighing up his options for his squad and there will be two things going through his mind: what is this individual going to bring in a playing sense? And how will they enhance the group in a tournament environment?

On the former, there’s a definite distinction in my eyes between the attributes needed to play at right wing-back compared to right-back. At full-back you’re always coming forward from the deepest position whereas at wing-back you’re higher up and so how you occupy the pitch is a lot different.

How the team builds up play is also different as often a full-back will start a move whereas with a back three it’s usually one of the centre backs coming out with the ball, with the wing-back higher up as one of the midfielders.

And when you’re in transition as a wing-back and having to defend then you need to have a really good understanding with the right centre-back or it can get quite confusing about who’s picking up what runners.  

So the tactical adjustment needed to perform well at wing-back compared to full-back is quite significant in my experiences. That takes time to learn and perfect.

Nathan is obviously a talent but his first-team experiences have only been at right-back in a Rangers’ back four. Steve has often gone with a back three and wing-backs and that’s a role Stephen O’Donnell has played on a number of occasions now for both club and country. Against the Faroes Ryan Fraser filled in there and Liam Palmer came off the bench. So it might be in Steve’s mind that he already has enough cover for those positions.

If the two friendly matches against the Netherlands and Luxembourg had been in May rather than June then perhaps he might have been tempted to chuck Nathan in and see how we got on.

As things stand, though, we don’t have another game before Steve names his final squad and I don’t see him calling up an uncapped, untested player despite the growing clamour for Patterson’s inclusion.

That would be a real surprise for me so close to the tournament starting, especially when Steve has been so consistent with his squad selection over the years. The other thing a manager has to consider is the squad dynamic. What will a player bring to the group when you’re together for a long time at a tournament?

If there’s not much between two players then that’s something that definitely goes through your mind.

I had one crack at it for the World Cup and, if I’m being honest, if I get a second chance at some point in future I would probably change my approach. Some managers preempt it by telling players they might not play ahead of a tournament. I chose not to do that. Maybe in hindsight I should have told the ones who weren’t going to play but let them know that I still needed them to help the group, especially the senior players.

That was a first World Cup for the women and this is a first tournament for the men for a long time and you don’t know how players are going to react in that environment. So the dynamics are hugely important and they can change quickly. As an individual player you might think you’re okay with not playing but the mood can change quickly.

And it definitely switches depending on whether the team is winning or losing. You get more buy-in from squad players when things are positive but when the team isn’t winning then the dynamic can really shift.

That’s the hardest part of management and you don’t always get it right. So when Steve is finalising his squad he has to also think about how the group will operate together, even the ones who he doesn’t envisage as starters.

You might think that means bringing in experienced heads. But, knowing what I know now, I would have no qualms about bringing younger players into the group ahead of a tournament. I always really enjoyed giving up-and-coming talent their chance. In international football I think it’s one of the greatest moments to give a player their first cap, especially a young player.

It often works in cycles with regards to the best time to introduce them to that level. When I started as Scotland manager the team had just been to their first finals and some players retired after that so I felt that gave me the perfect opportunity to give the younger ones a chance in friendlies.

That’s what you have to do to keep a squad fresh. Steve will no doubt look to do similarly after the summer but with such a big tournament coming up it’s hard to imagine him experimenting too much at this stage. And that likely means players like Nathan are going to have to wait for their chance.