DANNY Wilson's international prospects took a dive the day in 2011 that Czech Republic striker Jan Rezek tumbled to the Hampden pitch. Unjustly conceding the late spot kick to the wily Rezek which Michal Kadlec blasted in to put an end to our hopes of reaching Euro 2012 was bad enough, but to still be paying the penalty for it six years later seems like the roughest of justice.
While Wilson remains a Scotland supporter and will tune into Sunday night's big match with Slovenia hoping to roar his team-mate Lee Wallace on to victory, he is honest enough to admit he was largely in the squad under Craig Levein back then on the strength of his potential and must piece together a consistent run of games under Pedro Caixinha at Rangers before he can even think about returning to the international fold.
"I've not been an international since I was 19 and I'm 25 now so it's a long period of time," said Wilson, who had only entered the fray in an unfamiliar left back spot that day as a replacement for Phil Bardsley. "It's not a great one to end on! I don't think I've been seen at left-back since! But it's not something I overthink ... that if this happened or that happened I'd still be in the Scotland squad.
"If I'm being honest I was getting into squads when I was at Liverpool and wasn't playing regularly," he added. "I was probably there more on potential rather than anything else. That was the time where I had to be playing regularly to get in and the penalty went against me. It's just one of those things that could be coincidental."
This has been a frustrating season for Wilson, who has shown up well at points, but generally had to play second fiddle to a first choice central defensive pairing of Rob Kiernan and Clint Hill. But Scotland remains “I'm not sure [why it has been six years] but I think when you look at the squad, there are players who are perceived to be playing at a higher level such as the Championship and Premiership in England," he said. "That's maybe where they feel you have to be playing to play for the national team. But this is a great club. It takes a certain type to play here. Hopefully if I keep playing well I can get back in the reckoning but I can't really tell you what the Scotland manager or coaching staff thinks.
"If I look back over the course of my season, I've been in and out too much through niggling injuries, suspensions, maybe a loss of form of as well. If I get regular football here then maybe I can maybe think about the national team. But until I that I don't think I can.
“Obviously we've got Lee Wallace in there just now so you're hoping your mate does well when you're watching it. It's one of the greatest honours you can get playing for your country. That term is used too much by people who don't quite mean it but I genuinely do. It's a great thing to play for your country and hopefully I can get back in there. But if not I've got five caps and that's more than some get so I'm very fortunate to have got them."
While Wilson has made a good first impression in Kiernan's absence through suspension, he reckons everyone at Rangers has already raised their game since Caixinha arrived - because they are desperate to prove to their new Portuguese manager that they are worthy of having a future at the club. With only Wallace away on international duty, the 46-year-old has enjoyed a full week of training at Auchenhowie. Even though only veterans Hill and Kenny Miller are out of the contract this season - and both could well be offered new deals - Wilson is well aware that first team stars at Rangers have only ten or eleven matches to ensure that they are not victims of a summer clear out.
“There is an uncertain time when any new manager comes in and that's in any walk of life really," said Wilson. "We're the same. Rightly or wrongly everybody is working that extra bit. It is just one of those things that happens - in training everybody is doing that extra 10 or 20%.
"You can't get comfortable in your contracts because they don't mean that much anyway – if you need to be moved on you need to be moved on," he added. "We've got nine league games and a cup game and I'm sure everybody will be doing as much as they can to prove they deserve to be here next year. People say 'that's football', but it's horrible when you're actually involved in it. But that's the reality of it and it's one you need to get used to."
Caixinha is Wilson's first-ever foreign coach and his arrival has been an eye-opener. Players no longer receive the day off during the week they were used to, while the sessions themselves have been longer. Caixinha is said to have a fiery side to him but it "hasn't come out yet".
Early signs are that Rangers will spend less time passing sideways and more trying to make incisive passes through the lines, a tactic which should play to Wilson's strengths. “I don’t think it was ever discouraged before but he has made a definite point of getting to the opposition’s final third quicker," said Wilson. "If that means you play a 60, 70 yard pass instead of a couple of shorter ones that’s the route he would rather you take."
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