Hamilton manager Martin Canning is delighted that midfielder Greg Docherty has been called up to the Scotland under-21 squad, saying that it is a just reward for all of his hard work.

The 20-year-old, who got Hamilton’s goal in Sunday’s 1-1 draw against St Johnstone, has been drafted into Scot Gemmill’s first squad as boss of the Scotland youngsters.

Canning hopes that Docherty’s example will inspire other promising players at the Lanarkshire club, showing that hard work can pay off with international honours.

“It’s great for him, because over the last year or 18 months he deserves that recognition,” said Canning.

“He’s worked hard for it and that’s the thing, any manager can say what they want but at the end of the day the player has got to go out and perform to deserve to be there, and I feel he does.

“I think the players have got to work hard and earn that. All we can do as a club is put the boys forward and if they get picked they get picked on merit.

“We’ve got Greg involved in it and we were told that Eamonn Brophy was involved in the selection process so he’s not far away and I think he is someone who should be involved at that level. He’s got the ability, definitely.

“We’ve got Steven Boyd the year below who is out on loan at Albion Rovers and is doing really well, below that we’ve got Ronan Hughes, Ryan Tierney and Ross Cunningham who I think are good kids with a good chance.

“Young Lewis Smith is involved with the 17s and Taylor Smith is involved with the 16s, so we do get the recognition and if they are doing their job on the pitch then hopefully they will get their chance.

“They earn it by themselves, all we can do is put their names forward and if they go out and perform they will get the recognition they deserve.

“I think when the players see that they get the opportunity to play in the first-team at a young age here then that’s something you’ve got to aspire to, that international recognition.

“It’s great for us and it’s good for the profile of the club.”

The news of Docherty’s call-up to international duty has been a bright spot in an otherwise frustrating spell for Hamilton.

Canning has been left pulling his hair out as his men have conspired to throw away leads in five of their seven games so far, with the win over Ross County the only time they have managed to hang on for three points.

He says that it is vitally important that they protect those precious leads better, although he concedes it would take the pressure off of his players if they could kill games off at the other end.

“It’s been the story of the first wee part of the season,” he said. “We’ve gone one up in six of the seven games and we haven’t been able to score the second goal.

“We’ve not been able to see the games out either apart from Ross County, so it is slightly disappointing.

“But there’s lots of positives, we’re doing a lot right, it’s just a case of tightening up and not conceding.

“It would be nice to go and win a game 1-0, but on top of that we’re creating chances to go and make the game 2-0 or 3-0 which puts the game to bed as well.

“We could do with hanging on and getting the three points rather than just a point. We should be on more points than we are.

“We kept talking about it last season that we kept conceding the first goal and giving ourselves a mountain to climb, so it’s frustrating when we get on top and then don’t pick up the three points.”