Scots fancy Jonjo but no Coates
Scotland boss Craig Levein hopes to persuade Jonjo Shelvey to switch international allegiances after missing out on fellow Liverpool youngster Sebastian Coates.
Coates has a Scottish father but was born and raised in Uruguay and had a full cap for the Copa America champions before the Scots knew of his heritage.
Now Levein hopes for swifter action on Shelvey, whose grandfather was born north of the border.
The midfielder has represented England at youth level but has yet to win a senior cap.
"We've been in touch and we are hopeful," Levein said.
"As usual, we will continue to try and unearth as many players as possible to be able to play for us.
"We want as many good players as possible to be able to play for us."
The possibility of Coates wearing the blue of Scotland ended in July when he made his full international debut versus Chile in the Copa America.
"He'd been capped by the time we found out about him," said Levein.
Coates went on to be crowned the tournament's best young player.
Meanwhile, Lucas Leiva was in international action on Monday night as he played 90 minutes in Brazil's 2-0 win over Egypt.
