Sebastien Pocognoli has revealed that Scotland are stepping up their efforts to persuade players who are eligible for England to wear Dark Blue.

While the Belgian is content with the group of players at his disposal, he admits he and the SFA are in dialogue with certain individuals who, potentially, could improve the squad.

It’s understood that Tottenham’s Archie Gray and Everton’s Hayden Hackney are among the names with whom there are ongoing discussions ahead of the Euro 2028 qualifiers next year.

Both players have represented England – the country in which they were born – at Under-21 level yet could still switch to Scotland through family connections.

‘I have had direct contact or indirect contact,’ the Belgian admitted when asked about similarly eligible players. ‘When I go to the direct contact, it’s because I feel it’s a first positive approach.

‘Yeah, I’ve done it with many players. I’ll do my best to bring them.’

Under Steve Clarke, Scotland tried to persuade Harvey Barnes to switch allegiance only for the Newcastle player to confirm that he felt English.

Prepared to take each case on its merits, Pocognoli explained: ‘With Barnes it was different. The two other lads (Gray and Hackney) are young lads. It’s a long way. But if you wait too long, it might not be the right moment.

‘In a year’s time, we will see. Right now, we have players in the squad who are performing well.

‘It will always be up to them (current players) to be the priority because we’ve built things and we’ve had time with the ones who are here right now.’

While Pocognoli has previously made it clear that he won’t beg any player to pull on a Scotland shirt, he feels it’s incumbent on him and the SFA to gauge the feelings of players down south who could help his side.

‘We are on it,’ he stressed. ‘We are always proactive in all of these situations.

‘What is very exciting about those two names is that they are young players. That’s interesting.

‘We have to look and manage the situation. But it won’t be a definitive choice from them because we weren’t proactive. That has to be clear. We are proactive.

‘The best way to convince players is to show good football, show them they can come to us, enjoy it and be successful. They have to feel when they leave a top club that they arrive here into top conditions and a top environment.

‘That’s the best publicity we can offer, to show good football. In the end, it’s a human decision, a feeling.

‘I didn’t have that case. With my Italian blood, maybe I wasn’t that good! But I can understand the feeling of what it’s like to have to choose a country, with your background, family, football education and social circle.

‘So, it’s not easy. But it’s always a feeling from inside and I need to feel it. When I feel it, I’ll try to be on it.’

Meanwhile, Pocognoli believes a fully fit Kieran Tierney can have a major role to play in his new-look side.

While the preferred systems of his predecessors meant accommodating the Celtic man and Andy Robertson could be a conundrum, the 3-4-3 which the Belgian deploys seems better suited to fielding the pair at the same time.

With Tierney back in contention to face North Macedonia after pulling out of the last squad through injury, the manager said: ‘He will bring a different profile. He has a fantastic left foot and is an experienced player who knows the squad and knows what it means to play for Scotland. It is a big plus. He trained very well this week and is very focused.

‘He can play different positions. He can play left-back, he can play in the back three, as he has in the past. He plays left-back for Celtic, but in some games he has inverted. He can also bring some offensive attributes in the back three. We are lucky to have someone with that profile.

‘It is always a challenge to try to make all the players shine in the best shape possible. We have strong competition on the left side.

‘We have quality players. I will try to find the best balance and make everybody shine. If we can play Kieran and Andy in the same team if they are fit, it is a plus for the team.’

Pocognoli is desperate to secure his first victory at Hampden this evening having tasted defeat in his first two home games with Switzerland and Slovenia.

‘I haven’t really experienced Hampden yet and I’d like to,’ he said. ‘I was frustrated in the first game (against the Swiss) because I thought we started quite good in the first 10 minutes.

‘Then we know what happened (red card for Jack Hendry). In the last game, it was just disappointment.

‘It’s important that we play a consistent game and combine a good result with good football. If we play average and win, I’ll be happy with three points.

‘But the process is to play good football as well. It’s important that we excite the fans and we have the players for that. I hope that we deliver what we’ve worked on in the last four days.’