Which of these wingers will make Pocognoli’s Scotland squad?

The Scottish FA have published that the first Scotland squad of new boss, Seb Pocognoli, will be announced on Tuesday. With the new broom picking the first squad of the post-Steve Clarke Scotland era, there’s much anticipation to see how different the squad looks, under the new era of modernity promised by the SFA’s Chief Football Officer, Craig Mulholland. Following our piece on MF players we next ask, which wingers will Poco call up? Below we run through the wingmen candidates for what is the first Scotland squad for the 2026-27 UEFA Nations League campaign. Stats are as per time of article publication. Players are listed alphabetically.

Danny Armstrong

Age	28
Current FotMob rating	8.11
Year of last full cap	N/A
Current club	Dinamo București
Current club division	Romanian 1st tier
Club division Opta rating	73.9 (45th globally)

Armstrong has started this season in scintillating form for his club. In 9 league games he contributed 4 goals & 7 assists, rocket boosting his ratings across all stats platforms. As watchers of Opta rankings will know, over weeks & months the Scots top tier & English 3rd tier fluctuate at around the same rating & ranking. The Romanian top division currently ranks below the Scots top tier. It is, however, rated one position above the English 3rd tier. Hence, Armstrong will be on Pocognoli’s data driven radar as much as players below who play in Scotland.

Armstrong has spoken in the press that despite approaches to play for the Republic of Ireland, he has held out for his dream of playing for Scotland. It seems though fanciful to expect a Scotland squad call up for Armstrong tomorrow.

Harvey Barnes

Age	28
Current FotMob rating	7.11
Year of last full cap	N/A
Current club	Newcastle United
Current club division	English 1st tier
Club division Opta rating	92.1 (1st globally)

In this article in 2020 interviewing Harvey Barnes’ father, Paul, Paul states that the SFA’s Malky Mackay asked ‘quite a few times’, if Harvey would be willing to play for Scotland. The paraphrased response in that article is, “but Barnes is England through and through.” To be clear, that is neither a direct quote from Barnes or his father. There is though no evidence anywhere that Barnes is interested in playing for Scotland. Never mind recognising that doing so is an honour & a privilege. Harvey Barnes is the Danny Armstrong of England, although Barnes has played for England in 2 friendlies.

Fitba.scot has no expectation that Barnes will be in a Scotland squad at any point. He is though included in this list for completeness, since tomorrow is the first Scotland squad of the Pocognoli era. No hard feelings Harvey. Onwards & upwards.

Oli Burke

Age	29
Current FotMob rating	6.69
Full Scotland caps	13
Year of last full cap	2020 (away v Israel)
Current club	Union Berlin
Current club division	German 1st tier
Club division Opta rating	86.4 (2nd globally)

Burke could justifiably be listed in the following article on forwards, since that is where Burke has played most recently.

He was documented last season at the 2nd quickest speed recorded of any player in Bundesliga history. Watch him in this video eat his opponent for breakfast in a foot race before scoring, at 4 mins 52 secs into this video.

For all the speed that he has to burn, though, his output such as this fantastic goal & this hat trick are frustratingly infrequent. Hence the 6 years since he was last in a Scotland squad.

He hasn’t made his club’s matchday squad for his club since a pre-season game in July. Injury to an Achilles tendon means he won’t be in Poco’s squad tomorrow.

Findlay Curtis

Age	19
Current FotMob rating	7.08
Full Scotland caps	5
Year of last full cap	2026 (Neutral venue v Brazil)
Current club	Rangers
Current club division	Scottish 1st tier
Club division Opta rating	74.7 (37th globally)

All 5 of Curtis’ full Scotland caps have been as sub, accruing 92 mins of match time. He was in the Scotland squad at the World Cup, playing twice.

The 1-0 home win v Motherwell is the only one of Rangers’ 12 competitive games this season in which Curtis has neither subbed on or off. His full 90 mins in that Motherwell contribute to the 579 mins of playing time he has so far this season. Has he done enough to retain his place in the squad tomorrow?

Ben Gannon-Doak

Age	20
Current FotMob rating	Unrated
Full Scotland caps	17
Year of last full cap	2026 (Neutral venue v Brazil)
Current club	Bournemouth
Current club division	English 1st tier
Club division Opta rating	92.1 (1st globally)

Ben Gannon-Doak is a rare entity in a recent Scotland squad in that he has genuine pace to burn. While the much hoped of him at the World Cup didn’t materialise, his Nations League performance against Croatia’s Joško Gvardiol, exhibited the issues Gannon-Doak can cause for even the best FB.

In 4 Bournemouth EPL games this season, he has played a cumulative total of 10 mins, subbing on in 3 matches & unused once. Such is his playing infrequency for his club, he currently does not have a FotMob rating. He did, though, play 78 mins in the 4-0 League Cup drubbing of Lincoln City last week. His injury record remains a major worry.

Ben House

Age	27
Current FotMob rating	6.95
Full Scotland caps	0
Year of last full cap	N/A
Current club	Lincoln City
Current club division	English 2nd tier
Club division Opta rating	80.5 (10th globally)

Ben House, Conor McGrandles & on loan Ryan Oné were the Scots trinity that last season helped propel Lincoln to promotion to the English 2nd tier. The erratic ratings House has this season are indicative of the tougher standard of opposition faced by The Imps. A minor point though; the gap in standard between the English 2nd tier & the Scots top tier is significant. Hence while he seems unlikely for a Scotland squad call up tomorrow, the new data driven era in the Scots setup means Pocognoli will at least be aware of Ben House.

Emilio Lawrence

Age	20
Current FotMob rating	6.27
Full Scotland caps	0
Year of last full cap	N/A
Current club	Luton Town (on loan from Manchester City)
Current club division	English 3rd tier
Club division Opta rating	73.8 (46th globally)

Lawrence qualifies for Scotland because his mum, Claudette, hails from Lanarkshire. In pursuit of first team experience, he spent the 2nd half of last season on loan to Luton Town in England’s 3rd tier. He struggled initially at Luton & consequently was dropped from their first team squad. In a positive reflection of his character in the face of this adversity, he stuck in & worked at his game.

Consequently, he was recalled to the Luton first team & played in their last 17 games of the season. He scored 2 & assisted 3. One of his goals was the equaliser in front of 49,000 fans in the Football Trophy Final 3-1 win against Stockport County. Match highlights are here.

His full season loan at Luton this season has started similarly to his loan last season. Namely, he has yet to show his best form. Further, he was one of 3 players subbed off at HT when 3-0 down at Mansfield Town on 30 August. He hasn’t been in any of the 3 matchday squads since. He thus won’t be in the Scotland squad tomorrow. Will he though bounce back like he did playing for Luton last season?

We profile Emilio Lawrence in detail in this article of 2 months ago.

Josh McPake

Age	25
Current FotMob rating	8.26
Full Scotland caps	0
Year of last full cap	N/A
Current club	Heart of Midlothian
Current club division	Scottish 1st tier
Club division Opta rating	74.7 (37th globally)

New Hearts boss Wouter Vrancken has attracted praise for not just the attractive playing style of his team, but also for how quickly his players have implemented his preferred methods.

Among the huge numbers of player ins & outs at Tynecastle in the Summer, McPake’s arrival is one of the big successes. Regular first team minutes producing 2 goals & 4 assists from his dangerous wing play. McPake will understandably hope his name is in the Scotland squad tomorrow.

Dire Mebude

Age	22
Current FotMob rating	6.8
Full Scotland caps	0
Year of last full cap	N/A
Current club	Rizespor
Current club division	Turkish 1st tier
Club division Opta rating	78.8 (19th globally)

Mebude serves as a reminder that a highly rated teenager at a megabucks youth setup in England, doesn’t guarantee translating potential into elite achievement. He is now 22 and since leaving the Man City setup, has been at clubs in Belgium, England, Germany & now Turkiye. On occasion, he seemed to be finding his feet in Turkiye with some dangerous performances. However, the Rizespor coach benched him for his 3 most recent games, subbing him on only once for 8 mins of play in those games.

Calvin Miller

Age	28
Current FotMob rating	7.32
Full Scotland caps	0
Year of last full cap	N/A
Current club	Heart of Midlothian
Current club division	Scottish 1st tier
Club division Opta rating	74.7 (37th globally)

Miller in his early career played LW, before retraining as a LB when at Celtic. Josh McPake has quickly cemented his position as first choice LW at Hearts this season. Hence, Miller has often slotted in away from his favoured LW slot, playing either again at LB or also on occasion at RW. He has already forged his place in Hearts folklore, with his goal of the ages volley at the end of his limping run in Vienna against SK Rapid. Not to mention having the guts to take & score with the first Hearts penalty in the subsequent shootout win there. If Poco wants a winger in the Scotland squad with guts & determination, Miller has the badges.

Lewis Morgan

Age	29
Current FotMob rating	6.48
Full Scotland caps	7
Year of last full cap	2024 (home v Portugal)
Current club	Toronto FC
Current club division	US 1st tier (for a Canadian club)
Club division Opta rating	78.9 (17th globally)

Morgan at the start of this month transferred from San Diego, remaining in the MLS by joining Toronto. In the 3 games since he has subbed on once, subbed off once, & most recently wasn’t in the matchday squad.

Morgan hasn’t featured in a Scotland squad since October 2024. Current form suggests that unlikely to change when the next squad is announced tomorrow.