Kelvin Wilson has talked up the England chances of Celtic team-mate Gary Hooper as the forward continues to be overlooked by his country.
Mulgrew call overdue too, says Celtic man
Kelvin Wilson has talked up the England chances of Celtic team-mate Gary Hooper as the forward continues to be overlooked by his country.
The Hoops striker already has 20 goals to his name this season, firing Neil Lennon's men into a commanding lead at the top of the Scottish Premier League.
But the 24-year-old's goalscoring feats were not enough to attract the attention of England caretaker boss Stuart Pearce ahead of Wednesday's friendly clash with Holland at Wembley.
And Celtic's English defender Wilson has expressed surprise that Hooper has been denied a call-up once again.
Wilson told the club's
official website: "I don't know how it works but I think Gary deserves one.
"This is the second season he's scored goals here and he's not just a goalscorer, his all-round play is very good. I'm surprised he's not at least in the squad.
Stronger
"People say the English league is stronger than the Scottish one. I think they called up David Nugent and Jay Bothroyd before when he was playing in the Championship.
"They're saying the league is weak up here but why are they calling up players from that league and not Gary Hooper?
"I think he's got to just keep doing what he's doing. If he gets picked, he gets picked. If not, he'll just keep scoring goals."
Wilson was also shocked to discover Celtic left-back Charlie Mulgrew - who is set to win his first cap on Wednesday against Slovenia - was not a senior Scotland international already.
He added: "When I first came I thought he was a Scottish international, but when we had international breaks Charlie would come into training. I was very surprised.
"It doesn't surprise me that he is there now and it doesn't surprise a lot of people, to be honest. From what I've seen this season, in every game Charlie gets better.
"He's confident, he's quality on the ball and he's just a great player. He's technically good. He's just an all-round player."
