Robert Snodgrass retires from international duty with Scotland

Robert Snodgrass has called time on his international career with Scotland.

The 32-year-old West Ham attacker withdrew from Steve Clarke’s squad before the 2020 European Championship qualifying match against San Marino at Hampden Park on Sunday after featuring in the 4-0 defeat by Russia in Moscow on Thursday night.

Scotland cannot reach next summer’s finals through the conventional qualifiers but have the relative safety net of the Nations League semi-final play-off next March.

Snodgrass will be cheering from the sidelines after revealing on his Instagram account that, after 28 caps, he would no longer be part of the international set-up.

He said: “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to live my childhood dream.

“It’s been such a special feeling pulling on that Scotland jersey since I was 16-years-old.

“There have been many highs throughout my international career which I’ll always remember with fondness, including my debut against Northern Ireland and my hat-trick in Malta.

“It’s now the right time for me to step aside, though, and retire from international duty and let the boys and younger players take my place and hopefully push the squad forward.

“I will now watch as a fan and I hope to see us play at a major tournament again soon. Fingers crossed the boys do it come March!”

Snodgrass, who started his career at Livingston before spells at Leeds, Norwich and Hull, with loan periods at Stirling Albion and Aston Villa, also expressed his gratitude to those who had helped him along the way with Scotland.

He said: “I want to especially thank the Tartan Army for the special support you’ve showed me over the years. I will never forget this.

“A massive thank you also goes to everyone at the Scottish FA for looking after me since I was a young boy, including Frank Reilly, Doc McLean, Jonesy (head of high performance Graeme Jones), managers, coaches, staff, the physios, massage therapists, kit men and the media staff I’ve worked with over the years.”

Scotland have two fixtures remaining in their doomed Group I campaign, away to Cyprus and home to Kazakhstan next month.