After the international break we are now into the home straight of the domestic season, two months which promise to be exciting and unpredictable.

As has become the norm, there was little Aberdeen interest in terms of the Scotland squad, the big plus being Kenny McLean’s debut in the win over the Czech Republic. Kenny certainly did not look out of place, and it is to be hoped that he will remain part of Gordon Strachan’s set-up.

It is remarkable how little recognition there has been for Dons players in recent years. Kenny was the first to earn a Scottish cap since Chris Maguire’s substitute appearance against Ireland in May 2011, and the first to start since Lee Miller kicked-off against Japan in October 2009.

You have to go back a whole decade to find the last time any Dons stars enjoyed any kind of regular game time, Scott Severin and Russell Anderson getting relatively brief spells in the Scotland line-up back then.

Russell in particular should have won more than the 11 caps he totalled, and despite being in numerous squads, was regularly overlooked for players no better than he was. Since then, only Miller and Maguire have been selected, earning two caps each while Aberdeen players.

I am not suggesting we should have expected a handful of Dons to be picked as was the case back in the 1980s, but there have certainly been times when individuals have surprisingly been ignored.

Mark Reynolds should absolutely have represented his country by now; no-one will persuade me that Russell Martin, Christophe Berra, Grant Hanley or Gordon Greer are superior defenders, and the absence of Graeme Shinnie from the two most recent squads was utterly baffling.

Kieran Tierney has enjoyed a superb first full season with Celtic and I have no problem with his inclusion in the squad, but is he a better player than Graham? Debatable.

Ryan Jack is another who I would have expected to have earned full international honours by now. Injuries have hampered him of late, but when he established himself in the Aberdeen first-team a few seasons back and enjoyed such a fine run of form, he was certainly deserving of a call-up. Kieran got the nod after fewer than 30 games for Celtic, and you cannot help but wonder whether Ryan might have had similar recognition had he been playing his home matches in Glasgow.

Hopefully Ryan’s time will come, Graeme’s certainly must, and all they and others can do is to keep performing for the Dons as they have been, and make it even more difficult for Gordon Strachan to leave them out.

There are two further opportunities at the end of the season, big games against Italy and France, before the World Cup qualifying campaign kicks-off in September. It would be good to see Aberdeen players getting the chance to do their bit to try to end two decades of hurt for the national team.