Wales manager John Toshack won’t rush in to capping St Mirren midfielder Andy Dorman, despite calling him up to his squad for the friendly with Scotland this Saturday.
Dorman, born in England to English parents, was brought up in Hawarden in Wales. Under Fifa’s new schooling rule – under which players with five years of education in a country can represent that nation – he was included in the Welsh pool for the visit of George Burley’s men.
The 27-year-old left midfielder wasn’t in Toshack’s original squad, but was drafted in as a replacement after a raft of call-offs. Yet despite Dorman’s new-found eligibility, national boss Toshack sees no urgency in tying the player down and gave a lukewarm response to the benefits the new rule will bring to Welsh football.
“We’re aware that he is able to play for us,” said Toshack. “He wasn’t in the original squad, but the fact that [Jack] Collison and [David] Vaughan have had to pull out through injury meant we decided to bring him in.
“A couple of weeks ago we saw St Mirren play and I had spoken to Roy [Evans, Wales assistant coach] about him. It’s an ideal opportunity to bring him down and have a look at him.
“I’m not so sure he’ll start the game but he will be with us. We are going to have three days training and have a look."
Toshack added: “The rule is there and that’s it. In a perfect world we know what we would all like," alluding to his desire for Wales to have a successful national team without the need to draft in players with the help of a change in the rules.
Toshack admitted at a press conference on Wednesday that he was yet to see Dorman in action, instead relying on the scouting reports of his assistant Roy Evans, who travelled north to see the player in October.
“He plays wide left from what I can gather,” replied Toshack when asked what type of midfielder Dorman was. “I haven’t seen him play myself. We’ve had some people that we know talking about him and Roy has been up and seen him perform.”
Wales have used the Home Nation's grandparent rule to their advantage in recent times – calling up Englishman Ashley Williams from Swansea City on the account of his Welsh grandfather – but the inclusion of Dorman will be the first use of the new schooling rule at full international level.
“I mentioned Ashley earlier,” said Toshack. “Ashley was born outside of Wales but coming in he’s done terrific and he’s shown enthusiasm and loyalty as much as anybody.”
