LEWIS STEVENSON is keeping his fingers crossed that his call-up to the Scotland under-21 side can coincide with a regular return to the Hibs starting line-up this season.
The little midfielder found himself mainly on the bench for the Easter Road side in the second half of last season, readily admitting that he had suffered from a dip in form.
However, he has been involved over the course of the pre-season games
that Hibs played in the summer and was part of Billy Stark's pool of players for tonight's UEFA Under-21 Championship qualifying match against Lithuania in Suduva.
He concedes that his inclusion in the national set-up came as something of a surprise, given the amount of first-team game-time he has accumulated of late since Mixu Paatelainen took over the hot seat at Easter Road.
However, Stevenson is hoping that it is a sign of things to come over the course of the season.
Included in Stark's 22-man squad, alongside Ross Campbell and Hearts' Jamie MacDonald, Lee Wallace and Calum Elliot, Stevenson said: "I'm delighted to be involved – and pretty surprised as well because I've not really featured much for the first team in the last wee while.
"So it was maybe a bit of a surprise for me, but I always think that it is a good thing to be involved with your national side.
"I am not expecting to play so anything is a bonus to me, even if I can get a seat on the bench then that will be a boost for me.
"I've not got anything to lose from this experience really, so I have just got to enjoy it as much as I can.
"It's good to know that I am still in their plans and that they are still thinking about me in terms of the national side.
"The manager spoke to us and said that he had been to a few of the pre-season games as well, so it just goes to show that they are always looking out for you and keeping an eye on your progress."
Stevenson broke into the Hibs side at the tender age of 17, becoming a regular within the year alongside the likes of Guillaume Beuzelin and Ivan Sproule.
However, he insists that, having been so young when he made the breakthrough, he always expected to find himself out of the side at some stage.
He added: "In training I feel good, but it is all up to the manager now.
"I thought that I did quite well in the games that I was involved in during pre-season but I am going into the season not expecting to play every week. I just have to take my chance when I get it – and hopefully it will come sooner rather than later.
"Everything came really quickly for me and it took a bit of getting used to because I went from being in and out of the team as a substitute to playing from the start every week.
"I'm not daft though, I knew that I wasn't going to be playing all the time. I knew that I would hit a bad spell or drop out of the side at one point because I'm still young.
"I thought that I might have come out the other side a bit quicker than I have though.
"I won't let it get me down though, I will just keep working hard and waiting for my next chance. The team has started winning so I can't expect things to be changed around too much so I will have to be patient and bide my time.
"Hopefully I am still in the managers' plans and he will use me when he needs me."
Despite being only 20 years old himself, Stevenson says he's beginning to feel like one of the club's elder statesmen with the emergence of the likes of young Paul Hanlon.
"I was only 17 when I made my debut and 18 when I started playing regularly for the side," he said.
"I'm 20 now – and sometimes I feel like one of the old ones, particularly now that Paul Hanlon has come into the side.
"It's scary how times move on. In training sometimes we play young against old and a couple of times I have found myself in the old boys' side.
"All of the new boys have played at a good standard, Joe Keenan has been exceptional. He's a good player, really good on the ball.
"Steven Thicot has also played for the French national team at one stage and counts Nasri among his friends, so it just shows you the calibre of player that we have been bringing in."
The full article contains 803 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
