Ex-Raith Rovers star Kieron Bowie gives his reaction to first senior Scotland international call-up

The 22-year-old Kirkcaldy-born ace – who is now back living in his home town with his partner Brooke and twin daughters Victoria and Florence – served Raith on 39 occasions between 2018 and 2020, scoring 10 goals and providing six assists before earning a move to English outfit Fulham.

Bowie, who is in Steve Clarke’s national squad for next month’s international friendly double-header against Iceland and Liechtenstein, said: “I'm just trying to get back to full fitness. I'm still not even there yet, so it'll probably be next season before I'm actually fully myself, but I'm just trying to do as best as I can.

"I've shown glimpses of what I can do, but to actually do that I need to build full fitness, but yeah, we'll get there. In training you can see I'm just a little bit... it's just like playing catch-up, isn't it?

“Because everyone else has had a pre-season and stuff, and I've not had that, and then I'm coming back and doing runs and stuff. But there's only so much you can do, especially when you're playing games every week.

"You can't really do runs generally, because you want to be fully recovered for the weekend.”

Bowie’s time at Fulham saw him play under-18s and Premier League 2 football for two seasons before he had two loan years at Northampton Town, playing 85 times and managing 14 goals and nine assists for the Sixfields Stadium outfit.

Bowie then signed a four-year deal at Easter Road in summer 2024 after leaving Craven Cottage.

In this season’s William Hill Premiership, the player turned out on 18 occasions, scoring six times and having two assists as Hibs sealed a third-place finish on 58 points from their 38 league matches under David Gray.

Bowie, who is in the running to play for Scotland in the home friendly against Iceland at Hampden Park on Friday, June 6, kick-off 7.45pm and the away match against Liechtenstein on Monday, June 9 which kicks off at 5pm, has previously been capped by the nation at under-21 level.

The full Scotland squad is:

Goalkeepers – Angus Gunn (Norwich City), Robby McCrorie (Kilmarnock), Cieran Slicker (Ipswich Town);

Defenders – Josh Doig (US Sassuolo), Grant Hanley (Birmingham City), Jack Hendry (Al-Ettifaq), Max Johnston (SK Sturm Graz), Scott McKenna (Las Palmas), Nathan Patterson (Everton), Anthony Ralston (Celtic), Andy Robertson (Liverpool), John Souttar (Rangers), Kieran Tierney (Arsenal);

Midfielders – Connor Barron (Rangers), Billy Gilmour (SSC Napoli), Lewis Ferguson (Bologna), Andy Irving (West Ham United), John McGinn (Aston Villa), Scott McTominay (SSC Napoli), Lennon Miller (Motherwell);

Strikers – Che Adams (Torino), Kieron Bowie (Hibernian), Tommy Conway (Middlesbrough), George Hirst (Ipswich Town), James Wilson (Hearts).