CONOR NEWTON has revealed his delight at seeing former St Mirren team-mate Paul Dummett receive his first international call-up for Wales - and wished there was a way he could do the same!

Dummett has graduated to the first-team squad at Newcastle United this season after returning from a year-long loan with Danny Lennon's side and made his Premier League debut last month away to Manchester City.

That form has led to a maiden cap call from Welsh boss Chris Coleman who has included Dummett in his group for the World Cup qualifying double-header against Macedonia and Serbia in Scotland's group.

Newton, who is back at St Mirren from Newcastle for a second loan stint after a successful spell in Paisley at the end of last season, is made up for his close friend and revealed he had gone through his own family tree to see if he might be eligible to join him.

He said: "A senior call-up for any young lad always comes as a bit of a surprise but I'm buzzing for Paul, absolutely over the moon for him.

"He's deserved it as he's played very well both in pre-season and the matches he's been involved in since the season started.

"He's gone back after the loan spell here and managed to establish himself which is no easy feat given how many big players and internationals there are in that Newcastle squad.

"I watched him against Man City and he had Jesus Navas playing against him and he didn't look out of place on his Premier League debut. I know he's very grateful for getting the chance to come to St Mirren last year. There's no substitute for competitive football.

"We could have both just stayed in the reserves down there but the club felt, and we agreed, that it would be better to be playing first-team football and St Mirren gave us that chance. Now Paul's benefitting from that experience.

"He's a Geordie like me but he's got Welsh blood in his family and I know how much it would mean to him to go out there and play for them.

"I'd love to play international football myself one day but I've checked and there are no family links to Scotland, Ireland and Wales - it seems I'm 100% English! So it doesn't look as if I'll be getting capped any time soon."

Newton admits he would have liked to have joined Dummett in the Newcastle squad this season but was realistic about his chances of getting in ahead of the likes of Hatem Ben Arfa, Yohan Cabaye and Cheick Tiote.

He added: "There was a part of me that had hoped of maybe getting a sniff of first-team football at Newastle as well this season but I wasnt naive enough to think I was going to walk into that squad of multi-million players and internationals. It's a very strong squad.

"I tried my best when I went back down there and worked very hard until I got an injury. But I think coming back up here and getting regular first-team football was always going to be the best option for me.

"Results haven't been great of late but I'm still hopeful we can turn things around. We've had a tough start to the season but there have been glimpses of us playing some good stuff. We need to buck up our ideas."