Christian Dailly has revealed that he had to rush from a beach holiday in the Algarve to answer the call from his country this week.
The Hammers defender was on holiday with his family when Scotland coach Alex McLeish handed him a late call-up for their friendly against Austria tonight and a vital Euro 2008 qualifier against the Faroe Islands next week - after he had originally been left out of the squad.
"I was in the Algarve for half-term when I got the call and flew from Faro to Stansted to make it here," reveals Christian.
"By now, everyone will know what it means to me to play for
my country. All my stuff was in a locker at West Ham so I had to
ask our liaison officer, Richard Simpson, to get some boots for me
which he bought in a sports shop in town and I'll have to cope.
"I was gutted to say the least when I was left out. I now have
a game to look forward to and that's all I wanted. I've
played in the reserves every week and played in the testimonial
against Northampton.
"I was chilling out on a beach but my mind is right and I'm ready to play. I was annoyed to be left out but I made a vow to myself that I would get back in and I have."