Former Rangers and Aberdeen star Ross McCrorie now has an unlikely ally in his bid to go to the USA next summer

Ross McCrorie (left) won his second cap for Scotland in the defeat to Ivory Coast earlier this week(Image: PA)

Ross McCrorie is confident he can nail down a Scotland World Cup spot – with the help of former ENGLAND boss Roy Hodgson.

The 78-year-old came out of retirement last week to take on a caretaker role at Bristol City an astonishing 44 years after first managing the Robins.

Despite the Championship club’s troubles McCrorie’s performances at Ashton Gate saw him called up by Steve Clarke and handed a second Scotland cap in the friendly defeat to Ivory Coast on Tuesday.

Now the former Rangers and Aberdeen full-back is desperate to be on the plane to North America in June. And he reckons the wisdom of Hodgson – who managed England at the 2014 World Cup in Germany – can push him that extra inch to seal his spot in Clarke’s squad.

He said: “I’m concentrating on finishing the season strong and making sure I give myself the best chance of making the squad. I have a new manager now, Roy Hodgson, and it’s exciting to get the chance to play for him.

“He’s an ex-England manager and has so much experience. It will be great to get the opportunity to try and pick his brains about the game. That would be something any player would relish.

“I’m someone who is always looking for that one percent improvement and hopefully I can get a few pointers off Roy that will give me it. It would be nice if an ex-England manager could help me get to the World Cup with Scotland!

“There are a lot of changes happening at the club and that should hopefully be a positive one.”

McCrorie recovered from a severe pelvic bone infection that kept him sidelined for six months to be part of the Scotland squad that headed to Euro 2024.

But he never made it off the bench in Germany as Clarke’s side were papped out in the first round. That’s only made the 28-year-old even hungrier for major tournament experience.

And if timing is everything in football then he reckons he’s got this one to a tee. McCrorie feels he is in his prime and, with three goals and six assists in 35 games this season, is flying for the Robins.

He said: “I’ve done really well at Bristol. That’s the aim, to do well at club level and through it be involved in international football because that is the pinnacle.

Roy Hodgson(Image: Darren Woolley/Focus Images Ltd/Shutterstock)

“Playing at the World Cup has been my target all along. I feel like I’ve done a lot of good things with Bristol, now it is about waiting to see if I make the final squad when it is announced in May.

“I feel this has been a top, top, season for me. It’s obviously up to the gaffer who goes.

“At 28 I would say I’m at my peak as a footballer. I’m consistently performing at a top level, and my goals and assist total has been up there.

“Just to be in the squad for the Euros was a great experience, especially as I was just coming off the back of a big injury, so it was really just great to get in.

“At that time, I was just getting my body back to speed but in the last two years I have gone to another level.

“For any kid growing up, the World Cup is the one. That is the pinnacle of any footballer’s career.

“To experience something you grow up dreaming about would be amazing.

“As a kid you don’t imagine it is realistic but then you go up through the levels and it starts to become an actual possibility.

“It is up to me to keep that possibility alive through my performances.”

History beckons for Clarke and his players should they become the first Scots side to ever get through a group stage of a major tournament.

An expanded competition means 32 sides will qualify for the second round.

But a group containing the samba superstars of Brazil, AFCON champions Morrocco and the unknown quantity of Haiti will test Scotland to the limit.

And McCrorie said: “You want to be playing against the best teams in the world.

“Brazil have an amazing history and tradition but we are going there to compete not to spectate.

“We want to go and put our stamp on the competition.

“The Euros were a disappointment in terms of the number of points – we want to do better in this one. We want to win through the group.”