Levein not giving up on Driver

30 May 2010 10:58

Craig Levein has revealed he has resurrected his bid to select Andrew Driver for Scotland.

Hearts winger Driver's hopes of playing for his adopted country appeared to have been dashed in February when it emerged he did not fulfil new qualification criteria.

Levein, who is something of a mentor to Driver after helping guide him through the youth ranks at Hearts, said: "I still haven't given up on Andy. I'm still hoping we can do something with that."

He added: "I'm hoping we can rewrite or reword the current agreement. It is a kind of gentleman's agreement between the four nations which then gets lodged with FIFA, so there is still a possibility and we are working on that."

It had been assumed the Oldham-born 22-year-old was eligible for selection under the five-year 'school rule' agreed by the home nations last year.

But, despite moving to Scotland at the age of 11, Driver fell two months short of having been educated in the country for a full five years.

New national team boss Levein is now hoping to get the rules relaxed further to allow Driver to switch allegiance from England, who he represented at Under-21 level last summer.

Levein hopes to include Driver in his European Championship qualifying plans next season but added: "I really don't know what timescale we are looking at. It is something we are trying to do something about but how long that takes... I'm not up to speed on the workings at that level and how long it takes to do anything.

"There have been early noises made about it. I'm not saying it is definitely going to happen or that it's not going to happen but I am saying that it is something I have not given up on."

Source: PA