Midfielders Allan Campbell & Chris Cadden both started for Scotland U21s against England last night.
Sadly, despite a goal for Cadden, Scott Gemmill’s side went down to a 3-1 defeat at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium.
Allan Campbell, wearing his familiar number 22 shirt, lined up in the middle of the Scots’ midfield for the very first time.
Cadden has been a regular feature for the U21s over the last year, and he grabbed his first Scotland goal on the 79th minute, picking up the ball after good work from Swansea’s Oli McBurnie and slotting home from ten yards out.
England were two to the good by that point, goals from Spurs’ Josh Onomah, and Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham, but when Cadden’s strike reduced the arrears, there was hope of a leveller.
Those were dashed within seconds when Liverpool’s Dominic Solanke tapped in a third from close range to ensure the points stayed in England.
It was a fantastic experience for the two young ‘Well lads, with a third academy graduate, Kilmarnock’s Dom Thomas, making it a hat-trick of starters for the Braidhurst Campus.
Cadden himself was obviously delighted to get his name on the score sheet, but was ultimately disappointed to be part of a losing side.
He said: “It was great to get my first international goal and to get it against England makes it a little more special.
“However, at the end of the day, it doesn’t mean anything as we didn’t get the three points. I would happily trade me goal for the team to have picked up a win.”
Speaking about playing alongside ‘Well teammate Campbell, Cadden added: “I enjoyed playing with him and once again I thought Allan was a credit to himself; he was brilliant and showed what he’s all about.
“It was a good moment for the club and shows just how good a job the youth coaching staff at Motherwell is doing to have Allan, Dom and I in the starting line-up”