Gareth Southgate’s curt dismissal of Scott Sinclair‘s England prospects didn’t do him any favours with Celtic supporters and a few independent thinkers in England.
The opinion of Celtic fans won’t bother the England boss too much with most hoops fans hoping that Southgate’s side are heading for another World Cup whitewash next summer in Russia.
Sinclair’s career prospects are more important and although it’s unlikely he will be handed an international cap any time soon it would be nice for the former Aston Villa man to know that that particular door isn’t blocked.
Celtic face Bayern Munich twice over the remainder of this month before England play Germany in a friendly at Wembley with Alan Thompson believing that Sinclair has the stage to impress on over the next couple of weeks- and that Southgate hasn’t written off the Celt.
“I know Gareth well, he was my captain at Aston Villa and he’s an honest guy,” the former Celtic midfielder told The Sun.
“He won’t just dismiss Scott Sinclair, and hopefully he will get the call one day. It’s a difficult situation for Scott. I know that because I was in a similar position at Celtic.
“I was playing well in the Champions League, and you start to think you might have a chance of a call-up.
“I did get the call, once, and it was a very proud moment for me. To play for England was an incredible experience but I never got another opportunity — and there is no doubt it’s difficult to get an England call when you are at Celtic.
In Sinclair’s last Champions League appearance he scored away to Anderlecht with that strike nominated by UEFA for it’s Goal of the Week award.
Sinclair has been capped by England at every level up to u-21 and was also in Team GB at the 2012 Olympics, playing four times and netting once against the United Arab Emirates as the heavily-fancied combined team failed to win any silverware.
Scott will be a key man for Celtic in their third match of their Champions League qualifying campaign, with the Bhoys as long as 22/1 to get a victory against Bayern with 888sport. Even the draw is out at 12/1, with Munich the heavy favourites at 1/18 on as they look to take a step towards finishing second in the group and earning qualification through to the knockout stages.