Hibs' Dylan McGeouch impresses Scotland boss Alex McLeish

Dylan McGeouch was in the Hibs side that beat Hearts 2-0 on Friday night.

Hibernian midfielder Dylan McGeouch could have forced himself into Alex McLeish's first Scotland squad, according to James McFadden.

McFadden is likely to be part of McLeish's backroom staff in his second spell as national head coach.

McLeish watched Hibs beat Hearts 2-0 on Friday night.

Asked if he thought that was good news for uncapped 25-year-old McGeouch, McFadden told BBC Radio Scotland: "I would have thought so."

Scotland play Costa Rica at Hampden Park on 23 March and travel to face Hungary four days later in McLeish's first friendlies in charge, with the squad to be named on Monday.

"Alex McLeish was at the game and I spoke to him after and he was impressed by a lot of the players in the Hibernian team," McFadden said.

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"The squad has not been finalised, but I thought Dylan McGeouch was excellent against Hearts and never wasted a pass."

McLeish has already revealed that 21-year-old midfielder Scott McTominay, who was again in Manchester United's starting line-up as they defeated Liverpool on Saturday, will receive his first Scotland call-up at any level.

Aberdeen central defender Scott McKenna, Hearts goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin, on-loan Barnsley forward Oliver McBurnie and Wolves full-back Barry Douglas are four others expected to appear in the national squad.

McLeish delayed the squad announcement from Thursday and McFadden said: "I think he was waiting to hear about injuries this weekend.

"There will be one or two surprises I think and they are positive."

McFadden explained that McLeish will look for a mix of established players and new faces.

"We know what certain players can do, but we are trying to build a team for the coming years and we have some friendlies coming up that we need to use to see if certain players are good enough or to use different systems," he said.

"You use friendlies to test players and to give players a taste of what international football is like - and that will be the case."

However, McFadden did not think there would be wholesale changes to the squad that missed out on qualifying for this summer's World Cup finals under predecessor Gordon Strachan.

"I don't think there will be a clearout in terms of the door being closed on players just because they are old," he said.

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"If you're playing week-in, week-out for your team, at whatever level that is, then I don't think he will be clearing out for the sake of clearing out.

"It has been difficult as there are a lot of players who have been playing well. It is a great time to be involved with the international team."

McLeish, who has been living in England since his time as manager of Birmingham City, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest, has been seen at a number of Scottish Premiership games since being named national boss.

"Alex has been up here and watched just about every game, so I don't think it will be a case of bringing players in based in England just because they are based in England," McFadden added.

"He has been up here and had a good look because he has been living in England, so he has been to a lot of English football in the last couple of years."