http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/t...ry-110496.html
...Meanwhile, Trapattoni may have a battle on his hands to keep teenage starlet James McCarthy from changing his allegiance to Scotland.
Ireland U-21 international McCarthy scored his first Premier League goal for Wigan last week and is regarded as one of Ireland’s brightest young talents.
However the former Hamilton Accies star, who qualifies for the Republic through his grandparents, is still on new Scotland boss, Craig Levein’s radar.
A report yesterday claimed that McCarthy has been alerted to the possibility of Scotland being interested in him again. Although he has played for the Republic of Ireland at U-21 level, he hasn’t yet played a full, competitive international for Trapattoni’s side, so under FIFA rules he is free to play for Scotland.
Levein is eager to spread his net as far and wide as possible to ensure he has the strongest possible pool of talent available for Scotland. He is currently putting together a database which will cover every under-age and senior pro who qualifies for Scotland and he is currently scouring the country for potential targets.
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