Keanu Baccus hails Scotland conversions to Australia as he welcomes more following Boyle and Souttar path

Keanu Baccus insists Graham Arnold’s Tartan Socceroo recruitment drive is proof Scottish football is thriving.

And the St Mirren ace admits he’d love to see even more Scots join Harry Souttar, Martin Boyle, Jason Cummings and Alex Robertson by following their international dream Down Under. Arnold revealed his plans to poach more of our stars this week claiming the Aussie’s recent World Cup qualification record compared to Scotland’s should make it an easy task. Durban-born Baccus realised his World Cup dream in November and went head-to-head with Lionel Messi as Australia were eventually KO’d by champions Argentina.

The 24-year-old’s first call-up came after he swapped Sydney for Paisley last summer. And he said: “We want to have the best Australia squad we can. Whoever is available out there we want to recruit to help us be the best we can in every tournament, whether that’s from Scotland or other countries.

“Arnie seems to pick a lot of Scottish boys just now because everyone has done so well. It’s a competitive league and it’s credit to the Scottish game as well.”

Aberdeen-born Souttar, whose mother is Australian, has become a Premier League star with Leicester off the back of his World Cup with the Socceroos. And Baccus added: “The last 12 months for Harry has been amazing.

"I’m super happy on that and that we can grow on what we’ve done and have a lot more to prove. Whoever is playing well who has some sort of Australian blood in their genes then they are obviously going to watch.

"If they’re in good form they’ll get their chance and then it’s up to them. But they have to want to play for Australia as well.”

Back in the here and now the Saints midfielder is preparing for a pivotal point in the battle for the