Borders footballer Lewis Gillie called up for Scotland under-19 friendlies in Spain

The Galashiels 18-year-old is part of a squad of 22 announced by the national age-grade side’s new head coach, former East Fife and Cowdenbeath defender Tam Courts.

They’ll play their opposite numbers from Finland, Czechia and Ukraine in Alicante over the course of seven days starting next Thursday, September 24.

First up are the young Finns that day at Benidorm’s Guillermo Amor Stadium, with kick-off at 10am.

Next up are the Czechs on Sunday, September 27, at Estadi Olimpic Camilo Cano in La Nucia and that’s a 2pm start.

They then wrap up their fixture schedule against the Ukrainians on Wednesday, September 30, and that’s also in La Nucia, at the Ciudad Deportiva Camilo Cano sports complex’s mini-stadium, and it’s another 10am kick-off.

Those friendlies are part of 2008 or later-born Scots’ preparations for upcoming qualifiers for next June and July’s UEFA European Under-19 Championship finals in Czechia.

Second-round qualifiers will be contested in November, with round three following next spring to decide the seven teams joining the hosts in 2027’s finals.

Round one saw the young Scots finish second in their group after beating Poland 3-0 in April and drawing 3-3 with Ireland and losing 3-0 to Italy the month before on home turf in Airdrie and Kirkintilloch, with Gillie starting all three of those matches.

Scotland’s under-19s face Belgium, Kazakhstan and Kosovo in round two, with the top three sides in their group going through to the next round.

Hibernian academy centre-back Gillie is one of two players currently on loan to William Hill League Two’s Stranraer in the squad named by Courts, 45, assisted by former Scotland international Lee Wallace, currently transition coach at Heart of Midlothian, the other being Kilmarnock midfielder Archie Traynor.

Also selected are Aston Villa’s Fletcher Boyd and Jack McGrath, Nottingham Forest’s Kanye Bradshaw, Kilmarnock’s Cole Burke, Alloa Athletic’s Max Cameron and Aidan Crilly, Arsenal’s Callan Hamill, Newcastle United’s Alfie Hutchison, East Kilbride’s Liam Kennedy and Alexander Smith, Aberdeen’s Cooper Masson, Motherwell’s Zander McAllister and Aaron Thompson, Queen’s Park’s Aiden McCallion, Rangers’ Rydnn McGuire, Dundee’s Charley Oosenbrugh, Chelsea’s Alfie Osborne and Celtic’s Lucas Clearie, Joseph Haney and Corey Shaw.

Gillie is also one of two Borderers being loaned out to Stranraer by Hibs, along with Coldstream’s Zach Bruce.

He’s played 13 games for the Dumfries and Galloway outfit so far this season but didn’t feature in their match-day squad for a 3-0 KDM Evolution Trophy league-stage win hosting his home-town club Gala Fairydean Rovers in August.