RYAN FRASER does have an international future with Scotland according to manager Steve Clarke, after the Newcastle United midfielder apologised for pulling out of the squad in November.

The Newcastle United winger made himself unavailable for selection for the matches against Moldova and Denmark citing an injury, but was pictured training for his club - who had just appointed new manager Eddie Howe - the following day.

Clarke was unimpressed by the conduct of the former Aberdeen and Bournemouth man, and has left him out of his latest squad, but he says the door is open for him to make a return for his country in the future after saying sorry.

"I’d a really good conversation with Ryan Fraser," Clarke said. "He apologised for the way it turned out in November.

"I’d a good conversation and decided not to pick him for this camp, but I’ve told him that his performances for Newcastle will determine whether he’s selected for any ongoing squads. That’s how we left that one.

"He said sorry so that’s normally a sign that you accept that you didn’t deal with the situation properly."

Clarke is optimistic that the upcoming friendlies against Poland and either Wales or Austria will allow his men to regain some of the momentum they had built up towards the end of last year.

"I hope so," he said. "Obviously I’ve been in touch with one or two of them over the long break and the general feeling is that they want to get back together and see their mates, catch up a little bit and start preparing for the games coming up.

"I just wanted to get the nucleus of the group together. More or less the rest of the squad is as you would expect, I think."