JACK ROSS is delighted that Jon McLaughlin’s fine early-season form has been rewarded with a recall to the Scotland squad.

Having made his international debut during the summer, McLaughlin was left out of Alex McLeish’s squad for last month’s double-header with Belgium and Albania.

However, the goalkeeper has been recalled for this month’s Nations League trip to Israel and a friendly with Portugal, getting the nod ahead of Millwall’s Jordan Archer.

Ross said: “I was chatting to him this morning, and I’m delighted he’s back in the squad. I think he recognises that Scotland have two very good goalkeepers in Craig Gordon and Allan McGregor, but he’s proven his quality and I thought he was unfortunate not to have been in the last squad.

“His performance levels for us have just carried on from where he was at last season with Hearts. It’s a nice reward for him to be back in the squad, and it’s fully deserved given the way he’s played for us right from the very first game.”

McLaughlin signed for Sunderland as a free agent this summer, having rejected the offer of a new deal at his former club Hearts.

Ross said: “He was one of the first players that I identified that I wanted to bring to the club. It was a position that was important we got right.

“I obviously watched him very closely last season, and when you added that to his experience and the fact that he had been successful in this league, he just ticked so many boxes. He’s also at a stage of his life and career where he can handle the pressures of playing for this club.

“He’s pretty unflappable as a character, and I think you can see that in his performance levels. The one thing that has been hard for him is that he’s not had that real tangible reward in terms of clean sheets.

“We haven’t had enough of them, and that’s frustrating for him, but his performance levels have been very good and he’s undoubtedly played a part in us having a decent start to the season as well. That’s not going to change, because I’m sure he’ll produce that consistency over the course of the season.”

McLaughlin’s call-up increases the likelihood of Sunderland’s home game with Blackpool a week on Saturday being postponed.

The Black Cats can request a postponement if they have three or more players away on international duty, and as well as McLaughlin, Bryan Oviedo is likely to be called up by Costa Rica and Tom Flanagan is set to be named by Northern Ireland.