Lewis Ferguson living the dream with Bologna and now wants Scotland double to cap off stunning season
The midfielder wants to win as many caps as he can and is eyeing two in the June double-header with Iceland and Liechtenstein
Lewis Ferguson would love to cap off his dream season with two Scotland wins.
The Bologna star joins up with Steve Clarke's squad fresh from lifting the Coppa Italia.
The national team take on Iceland at Hampden and then head to Liechtenstein next week to bring the curtain down on the 2024-25 season.
Clarke will be using these international friendlies to fine tune things ahead of the World Cup qualifying campaign which kicks off away to Denmark in September.
Ferguson said: 'I want to play for Scotland. It is an honour every time I am selected and I just want to win as many caps as I can and to do as well as I can for my country.
'It is massive for me. I just want to finish the season strongly.
'Hopefully, I can get involved in these last two games with Scotland and we can get a good couple of performances and results ahead of the World Cup qualifiers.'
Clarke is desperately trying to guide Scotland to their World Cup finals for the first time since 1998.
He has led the Scots back-to-back Euro Championships but the World Cup remains the holy grail.
Ferguson is just desperate to see his international career take in a major finals after a sickening Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury robbed him of the chance to play at last year's European Championships.
The midfielder has made massive strides since his ACL injury although hamstring and quad injuries stopped him from hitting top gear.
He feels being away with the International team for these two friendlies will help him get more minutes in the legs and get him closer to 100%.
The 25-year-old explained'I am fit and ready to play. I will be there and available for selection if the manager needs to call on me.
'After the ACL injury it is difficult to get back into your rhythm and to get up to full speed.
'It takes months to get back to 100% and the way I felt before the injury.
'Around January, I was just getting over that.
'The first couple of months you are fit and available to play but you don't feel the same.
'It takes time, a couple of months to get back to that top level again.
'I felt I was getting there. 'I was playing the game at the turn of the year and then I got the hamstring injury, which set me back a couple of weeks.
'I got back into my rhythm again and the best I felt in over a year.
'I then had the small setback with my quad.
'It was just my body adapting and getting used to the demands of getting back playing at the top level.
'I was out for a few weeks and you need to get back to be able to show you can play at a level.
It has been the perfect year for the Ferguson family off the park, as their second child was born.
The former Aberdeen player admitted: 'We had another wee girl, Lorena, who was born here in Italy.
'That was in February and so everything has been great on and off the park. It has been an amazing few months.'
We are into another transfer window and every time that Ferguson is fit he is linked with some top Italian clubs.
It has been the same again in recent weeks, as he has been linked with newly-crowned Serie A champions Napoli and beaten Champions League finalists Inter Milan.
The speculation is nothing new to him and it is something he takes in his stride.
He said: 'I am definitely happy here at Bologna.
'It has been amazing, there has been such a good feeling at the club since I arrived here.'
A few eyebrows were raised when Ferguson left Aberdeen for Bologna back in 2023.
He was following in the footsteps of fellow countryman Aaron Hickey, who had done well and won a move to English Premier League side Brentford.
Ferguson went there and has blossomed into one of the top stars at the Rossoblu.
He helped them to their higher Serie A season in his first year, the following campaign then made the Champions League and now he skippered Bologna to their first major success in over half a decade.
Ferguson admitted: 'It is almost three years ago and it wasn't the norm going to cup finals and qualifying for the Champions League.
'This team has just grown every year I have been here.
'He squad has got stronger and it is credit to everybody at the club.
'I played in the Champions League this year, it was massive.
'The Cup final was the biggest because there was silverware and the club had waited so long to lift a trophy in 51 years.'
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