HUDDERSFIELD Town's Jordan Rhodes is rightly revelling in his status as a Scotland international player.

That’s the verdict of former Huddersfield Town star Kieran O’Regan – himself an international with the Republic of Ireland and a keen follower of Galpharm affairs in his summarising role for BBC Radio Leeds.

Now 48, the man who spent five years as a popular midfield player at Leeds Road has followed every stage of Rhodes’ development since his arrival from Ipswich two years ago.

And he believes there is no reason why Rhodes can’t achieve big things both with his country and his club.

“It’s a very special occasion for any player when you represent your country and, now that Jordan has had a taste of it with a few minutes against Cyprus, he’ll be determined to make sure his name is in the full squad all the time,” said O’Regan.

“I got four full international caps and the great thing is that no-one can take them away, so I have no regrets.

“It would have been great to get more, but I played alongside some wonderful players like Liam Brady, Frank Stapleton and Mark Lawrenson and enjoyed every minute of it, so it’s an incredible achievement for Jordan and he’ll now want to progress from the Under 21s and become a regular in the full senior squad.”

Rhodes qualifies for Scotland through his schooling there and, having been brought up north of the border despite being born in England, he always intended to play for the SFA if he got the chance.

His international debut came in the friendly in Larnaca, from where he returned to help the Under 21s score a memorable Euro qualifying victory against Holland.

He now has six goals at that level, making his overall club and country tally for the season a tremendous 21, with much more power to add.

“I saw a little clip of the Dutch Under 21 game and Jordan scored a great goal against opposition who will be expecting to do really well at that level,” added O’Regan, who lives in the Holme Valley and is in training for yet another half marathon.

“It came from a great cross and Jordan’s movement in the box – we’ve seen it time and time again with Town – was brilliant.

“He just gains half a yard and nets with a great header, and it shows he is in a really rich vein of form.

“It’s great for Jordan, it’s great for the club because he’s attracting an awful lot of interest and it’s great because he is still learning the game.

“He seems a very level-headed chap, though, and it’s wonderful that it’s going so well, both for him and his family.

“I played alongside his dad, Andy, when I was at Halifax, in our promotion season, and Andy is a really good lad as well, so I’m delighted for them.”

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