BURNLEY captain Steven Caldwell may have missed out on selection for Scotland's friendly against South Africa tomorrow, but he has insisted he would always make himself available to answer a call for his country.

The central defender earned the last of his nine caps against Switzerland in March 2006, while his last call-up to the squad came when Scotland manager Alex McLeish - the day after being unveiled as Walter Smith's successor - named a 30-man panel to take part in a training camp ahead of games against Georgia and Italy the following month.

Caldwell, who signed for the Clarets with just minutes to spare at the end of the January transfer window, did not make the cut for either of those fixtures, the friendly against Austria at the end of May or the Euro 2008 qualifier against the Faroe Islands in early June.

Although currently sidelined with a hamstring injury, he was also overlooked for tomorrow's friendly at home to South Africa when the squad was announced, with Preston's Graham Alexander, Russell Anderson of Sunderland, Celtic trio Gary Caldwell, Stephen McManus and Steven Pressley, Rangers' Alan Hutton, and former Burnley loan defender Jay McEveley, of Derby County, selected instead.

But, unlike England defender Jamie Carragher, who has refused to go back on his decision to retire from international duty, at the age of 29, and concentrate on his Liverpool career, Caldwell revealed he would always welcome a Scotland recall.

But he admitted his current concerns lie with his club ahead of his country.

"It's hard for me to speak about it because I want to play for Scotland 100 per cent," said the 26-year-old, whose brother, Celtic defender Gary, is expected to line up for Scotland at Pittodrie tomorrow night, in preparation for their Euro 2008 Group B qualifiers against Lithuania and France next month.

"The manager's made it quite clear by leaving me out of the last two squads that he doesn't think that I'm needed, which disappoints me. But at the end of the day it's his choice and I'll always be available for Scotland whether I'm 26 or 46. If he wants to pick me then I'll be there.

"But it's something I'm not holding much hope for because I was quite surprised not to be in the squad in the first place.

"But hopefully he'll come and watch some games and realise that I'm better than the people that he's got in the squad. If he doesn't think that then that's entirely his opinion. He's the manager and he makes the decisions."

He added: "I worry about doing well for my club and doing my best. When the game finishes I can look in the mirror and think I wasn't so great today' or I played excellent today'. I think you have to be honest with yourself.

"I probably think that not a lot has changed in my performances in the last year or two. I was quite happy with the way I ended my season last season and I hope to improve and continue to get better because with the sort of evolution of football you have to keep getting better.

"If I do that and (McLeish) comes to watch the games hopefully he'll pick me. I would be delighted to put on the strip again.

"But it's way at the back of my mind. I'd rather Burnley got promoted in all honesty.

"I think if we are up at the top of the table he will come to games and I might get selected again."

Meanwhile, five of Caldwell's Burnley team-mates are on international duty this week.

Northern Ireland trio Michael Duff, Steve Jones and Kyle Lafferty have joined up with the squad for their Euro 2008 qualifier against Liechtenstein at Belfast's Windsor Park tomorrow.

Joey Gudjonsson and Besart Berisha have been selected in the Iceland and Albania squads respectively for their friendly matches. Iceland entertain Canada while Albania are at home to Malta.