SCOTLAND No 2 John Carver has backed George Hirst to power his adopted nation to a bright future.
Carver says the Ipswich and former England Under-20 hitman is a blast from the past.
George Hirst training in the Scotland camp[/caption]
He was a late call up for Steve Clarke due to a red tape issue[/caption]
And he likened Sheffield-born Hirst to dad David, who won three caps for England in the 1990s.
He said: “George is very similar to his dad.
“He’s robust, he’s big, he’s strong, he’s good in the air, he has ability and he can compete, if you look at the other strikers we have available. Che Adams is a different type of player, obviously young James Wilson’s a different type.
“But George is like an old-fashioned centre- forward, a blast from the past. That’s how I see him.
“If you look at our team, we’re not the biggest, so he brings us something different, he gives us a physicality.
“He’s done ever so well in the Premier League with Ipswich.”
Hirst, whose dad was a Sheffield Wednesday goal hero for over a decade, has scored twice in his last three games for Ipswich in the FA Cup and Premier League, with 18 goals overall for the club in two spells.
Carver added: “We’ve been monitoring George for months now and when we asked him he was delighted to come and join us.
“That’s what we want — I know his dad played for England but he wants to play for Scotland and that’s the type of player we need. He brings us a different dimension.
“Obviously we lost Lyndon Dykes because of injury and he’s a little bit similar to Lyndon.
“But what a goal he scored at the weekend against Forest, what a way to leave his club football for a week or so and come to international football.
“He’s an intelligent lad, he loves football and he’s fitted in straight away. I had a good chat with him last night.
“The type of guys we’ve got, they’re a great bunch of lads and they make people feel welcome.
“We’ve actually had four of our Under-17s train with us this morning and they were outstanding, they were incredible. It was great.”
Hirst has joined Steve Clarke’s squad for the Nations League play-off ties against Greece after pledging his allegiance following talks with the national gaffer.
World governing body Fifa formally gave their approval to the 26-year-old’s decision to change countries with Clarke initially unable to name him in his pool for the showdown with the Greeks.
It was last July that SunSport first revealed Hirst’s interest in playing for Scotland after it emerged he qualified through his paternal grandfather.
He scored seven goals in 13 games for England’s Under-20s up to 2019.
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