Celtic defender Mark Wilson thought he would be involved with the Scotland national team much before 2011.

The 26-year old, who received his first call-up from Craig Levein for next week's friendly with Northern Ireland, arrived at Parkhead from Dundee United after being an U21 Scotland regular and expected the shift to Glasgow to improve his chances of pushing into the senior setup.

But he has been disappointed to find that Walter Smith, Alex McLeish or George Burley never called him up but he does admit it may be his own fault.

"When I first signed for Celtic from Dundee United I definitely wanted to play for Scotland," he said.

"I was desperate to play and when I moved to a bigger club I automatically thought it was going to happen. It was pretty foolish because it hasn't happened for me.

"I remember periods at Celtic when I was playing pretty well. I was playing in the Champions League and there were certain international games where I was overlooked.

"That was disappointing but what can you do?

"You have to get on with it and hope you get recognition further down the line."

And after all the disappointment of being ignored, Wilson says that to finally get the call from Levein was a nice moment, especially after it came just as he scored his first goal for the Hoops in some time on Tuesday night.

"I am very flattered and chuffed to be called up," he added.

"Overall I was pretty fortunate on Tuesday. It was my first goal in around six years so it was a pretty fortunate day."