Defiant Charlie Adam aims to force Strachan into a U-turn

Charlie Adam finds himself on the outside looking in as Scotland pursue a place at the European Championships.

But rather than considering closing the door on his international prospects the frozen-out Stoke City midfielder is more determined than ever to force Gordon Strachan to perform a U-turn.

The 28-year-old has been a surprising omission from the previous two Scotland squads as he’s found himself out of favour at the worst possible time with the country gripped with this latest qualification bid.

Rather than take the huff, Adam plans to use the disappointment as the driving force behind his bid to re-establish himself at international level.

Scotland hasn’t been short of players willing to throw the towel in whenever they are not flavour of the month Steven Fletcher, Kris Boyd and Kris Commons have all withdrawn their services at some point. That, however, is the furthest thing from Adam’s thinking.

“I’d never give up on playing for Scotland,” said the former Rangers and Liverpool midfielder. “That most certainly hasn’t come into my thinking and it never will.

“I am proud to have represented my country in the past and I’m hoping I’ll get the chance to do so again in the future. People close to me know how much it means to me to play for Scotland. It means everything to me.

“I’m sitting here with 25 caps to my name which is great but I’m hungry for more. I want to add to that total. I’ll never close the door on that.”

Adam was first called up to the Scotland squad during Alex McLeish’s tenure when he made his debut in a friendly fixture against Austria and made his competitive debut a week later against the Faroe Islands.

It wasn’t until Craig Levein was in charge of the national team that Adam became almost an automatic starter as he excelled at Blackpool before winning a big-money move to Liverpool. He continued to be one of the mainstays of the team when Strachan took over the post which remained the case until he was suddenly axed from the squad ahead of the qualifying opener with Germany.

Most Tartan Army members simply presumed the midfielder must have been crocked not to have been included but that wasn’t the case.

“I spoke with Gordon when I wasn’t in the squad for the Germany game,” explained Adam. “We had a chat and he told me what he was thinking but he hasn’t closed the door on me, I know that.”

Adam’s reaction to what most players would consider a snub is admirable. In fact, it’s exactly the sort of response you would imagine Strachan would have wanted to see from the player.

As well as displaying a maturity in his play on the park there is now a similar approach to matters off the pitch. But the appreciation of the tough decisions his manager has to take shouldn’t be mistaken for a lack of desire on his part.

“Of course it is disappointing when the squad is announced and your name isn’t on the list,” said Adam. “You are obviously aware when a squad is due to be named and you check to see if you’ve been included.

“When I have and I’ve noticed I’ve not made the squad then I’ve been hugely upset. There is no point in pretending I’m not. But there is only a certain number of players the manager can select and there is an abundance of talent and options in midfield.

“More often than not there are ten players who play in the middle of the park in the squad and only two can play at any given time, possibly three if there is only one up front. So right away you have six players not playing. That’s the way it is and that is the way it should be at international level. Competition for places is extremely fierce.”

So what does Adam believe the future holds for him at international level? Will he eventually find himself back in future squads?

“I hope so,” he said. “All I can do is play as well as I possibly can for Stoke City and see where that takes me. I’ll continue working hard and hopefully I can catch the eye again.”

Adam was delighted to see Scotland defeat Ireland to take a step closer to ending the 16-year wait to reach a major competition.

He said: “We are moving in the right direction and in with a very good chance although we are in a very tough group. The start has been really encouraging but there is obviously a long way to go and a lot of tough matches ahead.”

In the meantime, Adam is focusing fully on life at Stoke City. He’s been in decent form for Mark Hughes’ side but hasn’t always started and that’s something he is keen to change.

He said: “The English Premier League is a tough league and every single game is very difficult. I’m loving life at Stoke I really do enjoy it and the atmosphere at the club is great.

“I feel as though I’m playing well and you just want to make sure you are in that starting line-up when the team is named and that’s my focus.

“If I can do that and play at a high enough standard then hopefully it will be enough to help get me back into the Scotland squad.”