James Penrice reacts to his Hearts song as left back reveals dream of charting for Scotland

dailyrecord.co.uk:

James Penrice admits the sound of the Conference League anthem gets him buzzing on the Euro stage. And he hopes his performances will soon have Scotland boss Steve Clarke dancing to his tune too.Penrice has been a smash hit for Hearts since his summer move to Tynecastle and Jambos punters even coined a ditty in his name which rocketed up the social media charts after being shared on X this week.

But it’s on the park that the 25-year-old has really been hitting the right notes - with Tynecastle boss Neil Critchley singing his praises last week.Critchley reckons Penrice should be targeting a Scotland call up.

And while the left back might have seriously strong competition on his plate if he’s to even make a Clarke squad with skipper Andy Robertson, Greg Taylor and Kieran Tierney the three go-to options - he won’t ever give up on chasing a cap.Penrice only has to look to his former Livingston mate Nicky Devlin - who won his first call up this season after turning 30 - for inspiration in that regard.

With no international football now until March, Penrice is desperate to give Clarke food for thought and knows Hearts’ Europa Conference League campaign is the perfect setting.So far the 25-year-old has set foot in Plzen, Baku and now Brugge as the Jambos go about looking to extend their Euro trip into the new year.