James McFadden is backing his Birmingham team-mate Barry Ferguson to still have  "a big contribution" to make for Scotland. Ferguson's international career stalled when he was involved in off-the-field incidents last season when on international duty. However, all bets are off regarding his selection now that new Scotland manager Craig Levein has indicated he will consider anybody eligible to play for Scotland. McFadden feels Ferguson's excellent form at St Andrew's during the current campaign means he would be worthy of a recall.

McFadden said: "Everybody that watches Birmingham can see what a good player Barry is. In his last year up in Scotland, he was maybe starting to doubt himself a little bit but he has come here and shown everybody exactly how good he is. He has been brilliant for Birmingham and a big part of the reason that we've had such a great run. I think he's still got a big contribution to make in the international scene. I think it would be great for the country if Barry did come back in."