‘Old snake hips’ Jamie Murphy on the up with Brighton and Scotland

Brighton & Hove Albion are in prime promotion position and Scotland have come calling for Jamie Murphy, enjoying a breakthrough season.

Jamie Murphy is heading for the best season of his career as he savours the prospect of a Scotland debut this week.

The Brighton & Hove Albion wide-man is in Gordon Strachan’s squad for Tuesday’s friendly against Denmark at Hampden Park, with further matches arranged against Italy and France before Euro 2016 as the national team manager builds for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.

By that time 26-year-old Murphy could be a Premier League player, as Brighton are second to Championship leaders Burnley heading into the final stretch of the season.

The former Motherwell player, capped at Scotland Under-19 and U21 level, agreed with the notion that this campaign could top anything that has gone previously on a personal level.

He said: “Yes, definitely. Obviously there is a big couple of months to go and we (Brighton) have a good chance, we are up there doing well.

“We have eight games left and we need to win most of them and hopefully that gets us up and then obviously there are the Scotland games after that which is also an aim.

“I have been doing well this season. It is a tough league, but I have managed to score goals and played most of the games.

“We have a good chance of being promoted as well so there is a big end to the season coming up.

“And I am glad to be here. It’s not every day you get called up by your country.

“I am enjoying it and trying to do the best I can and hopefully be involved on Tuesday.”

Scotland coach Stuart McCall worked with Murphy when he was at Motherwell.

The former Scotland, Everton and Rangers midfielder is glad the forward has grown in confidence since his move south, initially to Sheffield United in 2013 before signing for Brighton last summer.

He said: “The thing with Jamie, he sometimes doesn’t believe in himself but he has all the ability – old snake hips – and he has showed it in training.

“In general he is a quiet lad but you try to get him to demand the ball from senior professionals like Scott Brown or Shaun Maloney and the more the training went on the more he was doing it. That’s what you want.

“I was hoping he wouldn’t come and be in his shell,” added McCall, who admits he would still like Murphy to have more of the sort of self-confidence that his former teammate David Goodwillie has.

McCall said: “I think he was in the same Scotland Under-21s as David Goodwillie and I wished he had a bit more of Goodwillie’s gallus in him, without being over it (confident).

“He should be confident. He is playing for a good side who are aiming to get into the Premier League.

“When you are doing well, if you can’t be confident then you never will. So I am pleased to see him.

“He’s not strutting about or anything like that, he is always going to be quiet but he couldn’t have done any more in training, put it that way.”

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