TOMAS Cerny reckons his hopes of representing the Czech Republic international team have probably gone - but he has no plans to give up trying. The Partick Thistle stopper was part of the Czech Under-19 squad which finished third in the 2003 European Championships at that age group but has never advanced to full honours for this country.

It doesn't help, of course, when you have the likes of Petr Cech, the 118-times capped Arsenal goalkeeper for competition.

That is enough to make the veteran the joint most-capped player in the nation's history but even in his absence with a calf injury, manager Pavel Vrba didn't look to Maryhill when it came to selecting the three goalkeepers which are in contention to take on Scotland in Prague tonight.

He has named Basel's Tomas Vaclik, Pribram's Ales Hruska, and Tomas Koubek of Slovan Liberec and Cerny, now 30, reckons his international hopes are a long shot.

"I think it will be difficult for me to get back in but you never know," said Cerny.

"It depends on the situation. Petr Cech has hinted that he might eventually retire, after the European Championships. He has said that he will sit down after them and decide whether he is going to continue his international career. But I don't think that he will - I think he will continue.

"You never know, there could be injuries or something and I might find myself in the squad but I know that it will not be easy," Cerny added. "I was No 1 in the youth national teams so it could still happen but we will see."

In addition to his training with Partick, Cerny will have to settle a watching brief on tonight's meeting between his home nation and the country where he has opted to make his home for the bulk of the last eight years. The Thistle goalkeeper was at Hampden with his wife Laura, his father, and her father back in 2011 when another of his Under-19 pals Michal Kadlec scored the disputed late penalty which took them to Euro 2012 and all but killed off Scotland's hopes.

"I will be cheering on the Czech Republic inside but in every other game I am the biggest supporter of Scotland, you know?" said Cerny. "I went to that game at Hampden when the Czech Republic got the late penalty and I had mixed feelings, I have to say. Although I felt the Czechs were the better team, Scotland were fighting back. And while I was delighted to qualify I felt really sorry for Scotland. I was there with my father, my Scottish wife Laura and her father, so there was an interesting discussion on the way home! I was maybe in the bad books a little bit. I started to celebrate a little bit and that didn't go down so well.

"It is going to be interesting to watch again," he added. "I will have to somehow get it online, although maybe I shouldn't mention that!

"It will be the first game between the Czech Republic and Scotland since my son Luka was born. He is only one though, so I'm not sure he will know what is going on!"