Lewis Ferguson recognises the continued need for patience as he looks to make his mark with Scotland but the midfielder feels he has made major strides ahead of his latest chance.
Ferguson heads out to Oslo for Scotland’s third Euro 2024 qualifier, against Norway, on the back of scoring in three consecutive games for Bologna.
The 23-year-old took his Serie A tally to seven in total when he netted a last-gasp winner at Lecce on June 4 to seal a ninth-placed finish, his club’s best final league position since 2012.
Ferguson, who moved to Italy from Aberdeen last summer, said: “It’s been a good end to the season for me, I scored three goals in my last three games, so I have a really positive mindset coming into this camp. I have had a great season, really enjoyed it.
“I think on the pitch I have improved. I have come out of my comfort zone, I think you need to do that to improve.
“Tactically has been a really big one because Italian football is really tactical, there is a lot of detail. But I think everything, in terms of technical stuff I have improved massively because of the way the manager wants us to play. It’s total football.
“In Serie A you are coming up against some top-level sides, some top players.
“The standard of the league is really high, as you have seen in European competition this year. All three finals had Italian teams. Although they lost, it shows you the standard of the league is really high.
“When you come up against good players, you improve as a player, if you can take bits away from it and learn from it.
“And off the pitch I have grown as a person as well. When you move country, new culture, you grow as a person as well.
“I am still learning the language. It’s difficult but I am trying. I can understand the manager now when he is speaking to me, which is probably the most important thing.
“In terms of the changing room, it probably makes it harder for me to learn because all the lads speak really good English. So whenever someone speaks to me, they speak to me in English.
“But I am still trying to learn and I think eventually I will get there. I’m good at understanding. Speaking is difficult but I will get there eventually.”
Ferguson won his sixth cap when he replaced John McGinn in the 83rd minute of Scotland’s 2-0 win over Spain in their previous game.
His only start so far came in a friendly against Austria and he faces fierce competition against the likes of Callum McGregor, McGinn, Scott McTominay, Ryan Christie and Stuart Armstrong.
Ferguson has age and versatility on his side – he can play anywhere in central midfield – and he is prepared to bide his time.
The former Hamilton player said: “It’s healthy, the manager will want that sort of competition, and especially the midfield, it’s a really, really high level, some top players playing at the top level for us and their clubs as well.
“It’s difficult to break in but I know I need to improve and I need to keep getting better. I think I have improved over the last year and I just need to keep doing that, keep working away.
“Obviously you need to be patient when the guys in front of you have played at a really high level for Scotland. I will work as hard as I possibly can and try and catch the manager’s eye in training.”
Aston Villa 2-2 Crystal Palace: Sarr's first league goal for Eagles helps extend hosts' winless run
Ross Barkley’s late headed equaliser helped Aston Villa earn a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace at Villa Park, although their winless run now stands at four matches in the league.
Unai Emery’s side could not shake their poor form as they were forced to come from behind twice at home to an injury-hit Palace team.
Ismaila Sarr got the visitors off to a flying start with his first-ever league goal for the club on four minutes as he slotted home on the break, though Ollie Watkins brought the hosts level in the 36th minute.
Villa could have gone ahead as Youri Tielemans saw a penalty saved just before half-time, but it was Palace who took advantage through Justin Devenny. The 21-year-old put visitors back in front in first-half stoppage time.
The hosts left it late to snatch an equaliser as Barkley headed home from Tieleman's corner off the left with 13 minutes to go.
Aston Villa go seventh in the table, while Crystal Palace drop below Wolves and into the relegation zone in 18th.
Data Debrief: Sarr and Watkins lead from the front
Watkins has been directly involved in 50 goals in 80 Premier League appearances at Villa Park (35 goals, 15 assists), now the outright most of any Villa player in the competition (Gabriel Agbonlahor, 49).
At the other end, Sarr scored and assisted in a Premier League game for the second time in his career, previously doing so versus Liverpool in February 2020.
Both players led their respective sides for expected goals (xG), with Sarr accruing a total of 0.69 from the right wing, while Watkins totalled more than penalty-taker Tielemans with 1.29 xG.
Arsenal 3-0 Nottingham Forest: Saka shines on Arteta's landmark outing
Bukayo Saka’s inspired performance helped Arsenal return to winning ways in Mikel Arteta’s 250th game in charge as they swept aside Nottingham Forest 3-0 on Saturday.
Saka scored one and set up another to cap a fine individual display in what was an excellent team performance from the Gunners.
Having danced into the box to drill home a crisp finish for the opener, Saka turned provider for Thomas Partey early in the second half, with the midfielder curling the ball into the left-hand corner.
Ethan Nwaneri combined with fellow substitute Raheem Sterling to slide home his first Premier League goal and add further gloss late on.
Arsenal’s victory saw them go level with Chelsea on 22 points, but they remain in fourth place, while Forest drop down to sixth after back-to-back league defeats.
Data Debrief: Gunners reach landmark triumph
Arsenal have often relied on Saka to produce moments of magic since his integration into the first-team, and it seemed fitting that his display would help the Gunners to their 2,000th victory in English top-flight history.
Only Liverpool's Mohamed Salah (14) has been involved in more Premier League goals this season than Saka (12 – four goals, eight assists), with his impressive performance backed up by the match statistics.
The England international registered more shots (six) and more touches in the opposition box (13) than any of his team-mates, while his four chances created was a total only bettered by Martin Odegaard (six).
But there was also a special moment for substitute Nwaneri. At 17 years and 247 days, he is now Arsenal's second-youngest Premier League goalscorer, behind only Cesc Fabregas against Blackburn Rovers in August 2004 (17y 113d).
Verona 0-5 Inter: Five-star visitors go top of Serie A
Inter hammered lowly Verona 5-0 away from home on Saturday to move top of the Serie A table, with all five goals coming in the first half.
The hosts could easily have taken the lead through Casper Tengstedt just six minutes in as he struck the post after causing chaos in the box, but Inter sparked to life after that.
Joaquin Correa rattled the crossbar moments later, and then opened the scoring after 17 minutes, finishing off a lovely team move by chipping Lorenzo Montipo.
Having set up the opener, Marcus Thuram added a quick-fire double; twice in three minutes, he took the goalkeeper out of the game with clever play before picking out the back of the net.
Substitute Stefan de Vrij fired their fourth past Montipo before Yann Bisseck managed to pick out the top corner despite initially tripping over the ball in the 41st minute.
The second half was a subdued affair, though Correa almost scored another, but instead smacked the crossbar for a second time.
Inter leapfrogged Napoli, who do not play until Sunday, as they moved into first with 28 points. Verona are 14th on 12 points.
Data Debrief: Full-throttle first half
It was a pretty much perfect first half from Simone Inzaghi's side, and it gave the manager a chance to rest some key players with a Champions League tie ahead of them in midweek.
Inter scored five goals in the first half of an away league game for only the second time in their history in Serie A - after the 5-1 score against Sampdoria in the first 45 minutes of play back in March 1964.
The visitors scored with all five of their shots on target in the first period and outperformed their 2.79 expected goals (xG) by some margin.
Correa has scored in a Serie A game 756 days after his last goal in the top-flight, on 29th October 2022, against Sampdoria, at Meazza. Meanwhile, all three of his away goals have come against Verona at Bentegodi.
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