Anthony Brown: Changed days for Scotland . .

Who is the best player currently available to Levein? I'm sure you'll all agree Captain Darren Fletcher of Dalkeith would be first name on the teamsheet. Who's our main hitman? I give you Kenny Miller, the Musselburgh goal machine. Who is our top goalkeeper? I'd still opt for the magnificent Craig Gordon of Balerno, but Carrick Knowe's Allan McGregor is not a bad alternative if Levein decides he gets to keep the gloves. Granted, most people of a Hearts and Hibs persuasion don't have much time for the Ibrox Lothario, but the fact remains that he is Edinburgh born and bred, he honed his skills at Capital club Hutchison Vale as a kid and - like Gordon - he's arguably one of the best goalies in Britain.

So what of central defence then? It remains something of a problem area but, with Stephen McManus, Gary Caldwell and Andy Webster all sidelined of late, it looks like Willowbrae boy Christophe Berra has done enough to earn first-pick status for now. So that's four of Scotland's strongest starting XI - the spine of the team, if you like - provided by Edinburgh. Phil Bardsley is the front runner for left-back but if Steven Whittaker or Lee Wallace were to oust the impressive Anglo, the Capital could quite feasibly provide almost half the national team. It's not just quantity the Lothians can serve up though, it's quality as well. Fletcher, Miller and whoever is chosen in goals would arguably be considered our most important men, along with Glasgow's Alan Hutton and Dundee boy Charlie Adam.

It's a far cry from when those in the west would have you believe the national team would be up the swanny without Messrs Bazza, Boydy and Faddy. Just for the record, including those who ended up calling off injured, there were six Edinburgh boys among the 25 enlisted for duty last week - seven if we push our luck and include West Lothian boy Danny Wilson.

So next time Scotland take to the field, against Wales in Dublin, cast aside your club loyalties for 90 minutes and savour the fact that your vibrant new national team is now more reliant on Edinburgh boys than it's been for quite some time.

"Savour the fact your national team is more reliant on Edinburgh boys than it's been for some time"

Cry me a river

I'VE always thought there was something peculiar about Middlesbrough since seeing the locals turn on each other after watching in a pub down there as Boro lost the 2006 UEFA Cup final against Sevilla. The place was buzzing in the build-up and eerie at the end as the sound of police sirens across the town accompanied the sporadic outbursts of street-fighting at full-time.

It was a strange evening indeed, and stranger still is what has happened to Boro's tartan contingent. When they left Scotland, Stephen McManus, Barry Robson and Kris Boyd (depending on whether he liked the manager or not) were established internationals, while Kevin Thomson and Lee Miller were on the fringes.

I know injuries have been an issue for Thomson and McManus in particular, but, as recently as a year ago, you'd have got long odds on a Scotland squad looking so strong without any of the Riverside Five in it.

Nicklas no saint in the modesty stakes

You've got to love Nicklas Bendtner. Personally I think Arsenal's pink-booted striker is a far better player than he's given credit for, but he doesn't do himself any favours with his regular boasts about how good he thinks he is. You'd have thought the self-assured Dane would have been knocked down to size after, among other things, being huckled out a London nightclub with his breeks round his knees and being told on the pitch by arch enemy Manny Adebayor a few years ago that he was rubbish, or words to that effect. But no, the bold Bendtner is still full of it. Last week, after putting him through a psychology test, Arsenal's sports shrink said: "One of the categories is called 'self-perceived confidence', ie. how good the player himself thinks he is. On a scale up to nine, Bendtner got ten. We've never seen that before."

Hats off to . .

. .Kenny Miller. The Musselburgh man has always had his critics but, after sharpening up in front of goal, he is now proving beyond all doubt he's Scotland's top striker. Showed his quality by hitting the ground running in Turkey and the Scotland captaincy was fitting reward for his excellent service to his country.

Not a fan of . .

. .the pressure being put on Jack Wilshere down south. The Arsenal kid is clearly a class act, but he's only just turned 19 and there's plenty time for it all to go wrong if he lets the hype go to his head.

I see he's being billed as the man to carry the next generation of England players, but can they not just let the boy develop at his own pace instead of building him up to be something he might never be?