SCOTLAND have been dealt a huge blow after a talented young goalkeeper switched allegiance to England.
Ex-Hibs shot-stopper Ben Vickery joined Manchester City last month after the clubs reportedly agreed a £235,000 deal for the then 15-year-old in March.
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Vickery, who moved to City in August after turning 16, had represented Scotland at under 16 level.
He was also part of the young Scots’ squad which competed in a friendly tournament in Cyprus earlier this year.
And he’s been named in the Scotland Under 17s squad to face Serbia, Portugal and Italy this month.
But he’s chosen to play for England after being called up for their U17 training camp in Germany which takes place at the same time.
And it won’t be long before he could come up against his former team-mates when they face the Scots in an under 17 Euro qualifier next month.
Vickery is from the Borders and has gone to Earlston High School. He started out at Melrose before moving to Hibs.
Scotland has had plenty of goalkeeping talent down the years with the likes of Jim Leighton, Andy Goram, Allan McGregor, Craig Gordon and David Marshall donning the gloves.
Steve Clarke’s side aren’t quite as fortunate with Zander Clark struggling for form at Hearts, Liam Kelly playing second fiddle to Jack Butland at Rangers, and Angus Gunn still waiting to make his first appearance for Nottingham Forest after leaving Norwich this summer.
Clarke’s side kick off their World Cup qualifiers against Denmark on Friday in Copenhagen, they then face Belarus in Hungary three days later.
The format has changed with all the Group C qualifiers taking place between September and November.
As well as Denmark and Belarus, the Scots also have Greece in their group, who back in March relegated Clarke’s men to Nations League B with an emphatic 4-1 win on aggregate.
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