Airdrie legend Bryan Prunty sees son follow in his footsteps - but David Marshall is inspiration for young goalkeeper Liam

Airdrie striking legend Bryan Prunty is delighted to see son Liam follow in his footsteps after being selected for the Scottish Schoolboys Under-18 squad.

But he revealed it is former Celtic and Scotland goalkeeper David Marshall that the teen starlet aspires to be like.

Seventeen-year-old Liam is currently on the books at Airdrieonians’ Under-18 team and is over the moon to land a call-up to the Scottish Schools side for the upcoming Centenary Shield matches against the home nations, as well as a friendly with Australia later this month.

It was playing for the Scottish School teams that got Bryan spotted by Celtic in the late 1990s and that helped him forge a football career at the likes of Aberdeen, Inverness, Dumbarton and, of course, two prolific spells with Airdrie.

Bryan is now a first-team coach with the Diamonds and is thrilled to see his son making strides with the club’s Under-18 side.

Having played for the Scottish Schools himself, Bryan knows exactly what Liam is about to embark upon but he explained it is all because of current Hibs goalie and Scotland hero David Marshall that Liam’s focus will be on keeping the ball out of the net, rather than hitting the back of it.

“I’m delighted for Liam to be following in my footsteps, albeit he is a goalkeeper and I was a striker, so it is totally different roads we’ve gone down,” Bryan said.

“But that is because I am friendly with David Marshall and when Liam was a wee boy he saw David hitting the heights, and he just thought then he wanted to be a goalkeeper.

“And he has never looked back, to be fair to him.

“Liam works very hard but he knows he has a long way to go.

“I played for Scotland Schoolboys as well so it is very close to home.

“I have been there and done it