JIM Duffy believes on-loan Celtic colt Aidan Nesbitt’s call-up to the Scotland Under-21s squad is testament to the progress he has made at Cappielow — and hopes other Ton stars will follow the 19-year-old into future national squads.

Nesbitt was part of the Scotland Under-21s outfit for the first time last week and started against Iceland in Víkingsvöllur in a disappointing 2-0 defeat. 

The young Ton trickster managed 70 minutes for Scot Gemmill’s side before being replaced by Chelsea’s Ruben Sammut.

The Morton boss says it’s not the first time a player’s international career has been launched at Cappielow — and reckons the first-team football Nesbitt has been exposed to in a competitive Championship division will be paramount to his progression as a player.

Duffy said: “We had a similar situation with Declan McManus who came to us, did well and got picked for the Scotland Under-21s, which helped his career. I think Aidan is the same.

“It’s not to say that he wouldn’t get picked for Celtic but if you’re playing first team football, it definitely helps you. 

“There is that competitive edge in the Championship —there are some terrific sides in it and some very good players. That definitely helps, and it’s good for us as a football club to have players involved in that.”

The Ton manager also insists his team have several other players who could cut it at the same level as Nesbitt. Jai Quitongo and Gary Oliver are both eligible for Scotland’s under-21s squad, but neither were called up by manager Gemmill for his first squad since taking over from departing boss Ricky Sbragia.

Both Quitongo and Oliver have since expressed their increasing frustrations about their omission from the team, with the former even considering switching allegiances to Portugal — where his dad Jose has dual citizenship — if he isn’t selected soon. 

“But Duffy maintains that if they keep working hard, they should get their chance.

He said: “Maybe in time there will be a few more because I think we have players good enough to play international level at 19s, 21s. 

“But there are also a lot of good, talented players out there. I’m not getting upset about our players not being picked, but I do think we have two or three players who could play at various levels.

“Hopefully in the fullness of time they get that opportunity.”