JORDAN RHODES says Monday’s European Under 21 Championship qualifier against Austria is his only concern after his hat-trick exploits in Luxembourg sparked suggestions of a call-up to the full Scotland squad.
The Town ace followed his double in last Saturday’s 4-0 League I win at Brentford with a sweet treble as Billy Stark’s tartan youngsters won their second Euro game 5-1 having drawn their opener at home to Bulgaria.
Now it’s back to St Mirren’s stadium in Paisley, near Glasgow, to face the Austrians and Rhodes, the first Town player to score for a Scotland side since Joe Harper against Canada in a 1967 tour game, is keeping his feet firmly on the ground.
“As a striker you always want to score, and I’m chuffed to bits to have got off the mark for the 21s, but I try to distance myself from what people are saying and just focus on the job at hand,” said Rhodes, who now has four caps.
“The important thing is that we played well and got a few goals, and now we want to push on against Austria, who will be tough opponents.”
Rhodes’ Town manager Lee Clark hailed his player’s achievement – the travelling fans chanted ‘Are you watching Craig Levein?’ after seeing him strike with two shots and a header – and said he’d love to see other Town players win international honours.
“We were delighted to get the news of his hat trick and we’re very proud of him,” said Clark, who is without his six-goal marksman for today’s home League I clash with Stevenage.
“We’ve been a victim of our own success in developing him into an international footballer, because we’re without him today, but we have other talented young players like Jack Hunt, and is we can get three call-ups, we’ll be able to get our own matches called off!”
