Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish believes striker Garry O’Connor will force his way back into the plans of his Scotland counterpart George Burley if he continues to show his impressive early season form.
The Blues boss has been delighted with the application of the 25-year-old during pre-season and O’Connor was in impressive form during the 4-0 win in the first round of the Carling Cup at Wycombe Wanderers on Wednesday night.
O’Connor, who has scored four goals in 15 appearances for his country, played a significant role in setting up goals for Sebastian Larsson and Cameron Jerome but has been left out of the Scotland squad for the international friendly against Northern Ireland at Hampden Park next Wednesday.
However, McLeish believes O’Connor is in the best shape of his Blues career and has told his striker that good performances for his club will lead to an international recall.
“I was very disappointed Garry didn’t get a goal out of his performance on Wednesday because he certainly deserved one,” McLeish said. “I know George Burley hasn’t included him in the Scotland squad for next week but I have said to him that if he pleases me and if he does well, I think he will walk into the Scotland squad because he has all the attributes for international football.
“George said he will bring back the experienced players for the World Cup qualifiers [the first one of which is in Macedonia on September 6] and if O’Connor keeps playing at a level he is at right now, he will get back in, no problem.”
McLeish revealed that O’Connor wasn’t fully fit when he first joined the St Andrew’s club from Lokomotiv Moscow last summer and struggled to make an impact as a result as Blues failed to avoid relegation from the Premier League .
“To be fair to him, when he came to Birmingham he had played for a while without a break,” McLeish said. “He went from Scottish football straight into Russian football [the Russian season runs throughout the summer] and he missed the summer break so his body clock was out. Then he came to Birmingham City without having had a good enough rest.
“Maybe on his holidays he had over indulged a little bit and he came back a little bit podgy but this season he has come back and the fat count on him is good although, like a lot of the players, it can get better. He is now in superb condition and he has been up at the front in the running tests for much of the pre-season.
“It is all about the attitude of the players. We can do all the encouragement and pass our experience on about what you should do and shouldn’t do but it is up to the player if he wants to do it. If any player is 100 per cent focused on his career, then he has a better chance than players who are not.”
Another player who has impressed McLeish is recent loan signing Quincy Owusu-Abeyie, who scored a stunning goal during a promising cameo substitute appearance at Adams Park.
The former Arsenal youngster, who is on loan with Blues from Spartak Moscow with a view to a permanent move next season, isn’t quite fully fit but McLeish is looking forward to utilising the obvious talents of the Dutch-born Ghanian international when he is back in tip-top shape.
“His first touch on Wednesday was a pass to the opposition and I thought ‘good start, Quince’ but he came into it after that,” McLeish said. “The players brought him into the game and he linked up well. He looks as though he is going to be a handful when he is fully fit and he capped it off with a lovely goal. I didn’t think he could get the ball in the net from there but he has a wee bit of skill in his locker, as well as speed.”
