Sheffield Wednesday star Barry Bannan fancies 'massive' Scotland call-up ahead of Euro 2020 qualifiers

The 30-year-old playmaker hasn’t played for his country since 2017 and has previously spoken about the need to balance club and country commitments, along with the needs of his young family.

Scotland will head to Hampden Park to face Israel in a one-off play-off semi-final on March 26, with a potential final against either Norway or Serbia five days later.

Clarke is expected to name his squad, which will likely include Owls full-back Liam Palmer, early next week. The national side have not reached the finals of a major tournament since 1998 and Bannan is keen to play his part in what could be a historic week.

“Hopefully if I'm doing well enough I'll get the call,” he said.

“I've not retired, I want to play, it's my country. Everybody wants to play for their country and they have two massive games so if I get called up obviously I'll go and play.

“Whether I'm injured or not, we'll have to wait and see if that comes, but if I'm not injured I want to play.”

Bannan recently undertook an injection on his groin to see him through what has been a difficult start to 2020 for Wednesday.

And despite question marks from some quarters over his form, only one Championship player – West Brom’s Matheus Pereira – has created more chances this season.

Bannan has previously admitted that Scotland’s strength has been in midfield in recent seasons and admitted he was comfortable with the fact he has not added to his 27 caps.

But contact has been made by Clarke, he said, and fitness permitting he would like to get to 28.

He said: “I spoke to the manager funnily enough when we played Leeds and I bumped into him in the hotel.

“He was coming to the game on the off-chance and we spoke about normal things. We've been in contact a little bit but like I've touched on my main aim is to help my club and my day-in day-out work.”