STEVIE Mallan is ready to pull on his shooting boots for Scotland when they face England in the European Championships qualifiers on Tuesday.

The Easter Road midfielder has netted nine goals already for Neil Lennon’s side this season and all have been scored from outside the box.

Under 21s manager Scot Gemmill joked last week it was about time Mallan started scoring for his country too since he has only scored once for his nation.

And, ahead of the showdown at Tynecastle against Aidy Boothroyd’s side, he is desperate to start adding some goals too for Scotland.

“I’m playing with confidence for my club and that helps when you play for Scotland at international level. I’ve been scoring goals and now I want to bring that into my game when I play for my country as well. That’s where it matters.

“I want to bring goals into the Under 21 side and do my bit to help the team as it is an extremely hard game but we are looking forward to the challenge.

“I’ve also benefited from playing in Europe this season with Hibs. It has opened my eyes to different styles of football. There were games against some top sides.

“We had the game in the Faroes and then went to Greece which was a far more difficult game. The final game against Molde was a huge disappointment but that’s the level where we want to be playing.

“We know ourselves we could have done better in the last two games against Molde.

“I believe with the team we have now, we could have done better. These are the types of games I want to play in both for my club and my country.”

The youngster’s strike rate for Hibs has prompted Lennon to make comparisons with Slovakian playmaker Lubo Moravcik, who was famed for his set-piece deliveries and the sweet way he struck a ball.

“It was a brilliant comment to hear, being compared to someone like Lubo is far better than being slaughtered. I can’t complain with that so I’ll take the compliment from the manager.

“The gaffer has played with a lot of top players in his career so to be compared with someone like that is phenomenal. It just shows that I’m doing not too badly just now and he’s liking what I’m doing, that’s the main thing.

However, Moravcik was not Mallan’s idol, but another player famed for his technique.

“When I was growing up I watched Paul Scholes more than David Beckham because he was more my height. I loved his goals and his shooting ability. Scholes was my hero when I was growing up,” he said.

Mallan comes from a proud footballing stock with his dad Stevie senior a stalwart for the likes of Queen of the South, Clyde and Arbroath before moving to the juniors and the 22-year-old revealed how he learned his set-piece craft in the unlikely, modest surroundings of Beechwood Park, home of junior giants Auchinleck Talbot.

“From the ages of around seven through to around 14, I would go and watch all of my dad’s games. My boys club games were on a Sunday so I’d go with him on a Saturday. He was with Glenafton and then Auchinleck Talbot and I used to take part in the warm-up. I would get the chance to do some shooting and warm-up the goalies. It helped them and for me it was a way to practice.

“The Talbot manager Tommy Sloan used to give me balls and send me away to work the keepers and I would hit shots from the edge of the box and hit free-kicks. All of the Talbot boys would stand and watch and a lot of the locals knew who I was by watching what I was doing on the park. So it was back then that I started making a name for myself.

“I can trace all that I’ve achieved so far back to those days hitting shots as a kid, 100 per cent. I have a lot of fond memories from that time.

“I loved getting the ball out before the juniors games and it was just down to my dad’s career. Our careers have gone differently but we share a love for the game.

“It was always about football for me, I didn’t see myself doing anything else. Every weekend revolved around football. It was either watching my dad or being involved in my own game.

“There was no way I didn’t see myself making it. I didn’t see it as practice back then, to me it was just fun. What has made me successful at what I do with free-kicks is that I actually enjoyed practicing them. There are aspects to the game such as the fitness side which are hard work, things like running are things I never enjoyed but you’d be a bit weird if you did. Having time with the ball and just playing the game is what I love. I have never once regarded that as training.”

There’s more big games for Mallan on returning from the Under 21s, with Hibs away to Celtic and Hearts, which will be a real test of their title credentials.

“If we want to do well and dominate in the league then the big teams are ones we need to go out and beat.” he said. “From what we have done and the team we have, I don’t see why we can’t do the business.”