GETTING the blessing from his boss was the easy part for Stevie Woods. Earning the approval of his other half proved a bit more problematic, however.

The international break usually offers the 48-year-old a bit of downtime from life at Celtic but he has swapped the green and white of his club for the blue and white of his country this time around.

Woods joined up with the Scotland squad at their Edinburgh base this week as he, Peter Grant and James McFadden got down to work with boss Alex McLeish.

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The chance to play his part in a new era for the national side is one that he was eager to take up. His time will be split, but his priorities won’t be.

“Brendan Rodgers told me in the morning,” Woods said. “He said ‘listen, Alex has phoned for permission to speak to you about the international team, how do you feel about it?’

“I said ‘how do you feel about it? It has got to be with your blessing or not at all.’

“He said Peter and I think it is a great idea for you to do it but it can’t interfere with the work you do at Celtic.

“As long as it doesn’t and it doesn’t overlap with anything you do at Celtic, full blessing. It was him that tipped me off first.

“It would never interfere with anything at Celtic. I can completely compartmentalise the two jobs, it is easy for me to do that.

“The job at Celtic is just too important just now. I find this is when I usually get time off so it is my wife who is making sacrifices this time, not Celtic.

“It is my wife and my son that don’t see me for what will be 45 days this year.”

The matches with Costa Rica and Hungary in the coming days are a chance for McLeish and his staff to get off and running on a positive footing.

Come the end of the campaign, two more friendly fixtures will see them fine tune their preparations for the Nations League as Scotland head to Peru and Mexico.

Woods will as well, but that call-up has caused more consternation than his first tour of duty that will take him to Hampden and the Groupama Stadium.

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“That’s a touchy point,” he laughed. “I had agreed for my wife’s birthday to take her away to New York as a big special birthday present.

“I managed to get all my money back but she is not happy.

“That is the sacrifices of working for your country – you get a bit of earache from the missus.”

Woods will have to sacrifice some family time in the coming months but his efforts could prove crucial as McLeish attempts to transform Scotland’s fortunes.

While Rodgers reflects on Sunday’s draw with Motherwell and looks ahead to the Premiership clash with Ross County, several of his players will jet off around the world in search of international recognition.

It is a change of scene and a change of routine for Woods but it is a situation that he wouldn’t alter for anything.

He said: “This would be the chance to play in Broony’s golf day on Thursday which I am going to miss out on – and I was the favourite to win it, obviously.

“Catch up with some friends, get some rest time.

“The Champions league travel and with us being in the final of the League Cup, into the semi-final of the Scottish Cup, there is not a lot of down time at Celtic.

“You have either got to be really dedicated to go away with your country or you take the time and you recharge your batteries.

“For example I will be looking at the boys at Celtic who have been left behind.

“This week it will be Craig [Gordon], Dorus [de Vries] and Bainy (Scott Bain) looking after them for three days.

“So we have just given them a bit of extra time off this week. I would normally be looking after them.”

It is Allan McGregor, Jon McLaughlin and Jordan Archer that Woods will work with during the international break as McLeish picks his side for the first matches of his second spell as boss.

The Dark Blues haven’t been short of goalkeeping talent in recent years and Woods is keen to make his own mark on the current crop and the next generation.

Read more: Stevie Woods: Celtic defender Jack Hendry can go from strength to strength after Scotland cap call​

He said: “I think I always have a good personal relationship with the people I work with, I always try to touch base with them.

“You only have a couple of days here but already have a bit of banter going with the goalies, finding out what makes them tick. Find out who the lazy ones are, who are the ones that want to work hard.

“That’s what you do, have to establish a bit of a rapport, a trust, a bit of honesty and take that forward into their coaching and development as each coach can do. But you have a short space of time so you have to try and accelerate that.”

Woods enjoyed a distinguished career between the sticks at Clydebank, Preston North End, Motherwell and St Mirren before he took his first steps into coaching.

He was no stranger to a call of duty during his playing days but now he will see national service for his country.

Woods said: “I am not ashamed to say the goalies in front of me were Andy Goram, Jim Leighton and Bryan Gunn. Nicky Walker was involved as well at times.

“Euro 96 was the big time for me as I was selected six times for Scotland to be in the squad and travelling away with them. However I was always behind Jim Leighton or Andy Goram.

“I loved being in Scotland squads and it meant a lot to me to be selected, even to be part of the squad.

“I was quite happy with that especially when you can say Jim Leighton, with his record at the time, kept me out of the team. It is a big honour.”