Barry Ferguson may yet end his Scotland exile

Former Scotland captain Ferguson could yet make a return to the national team

Former Scotland captain Barry Ferguson has not ruled out a return to international football. The Birmingham City midfielder told BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound on Wednesday that it "hurt" not being part of the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign. "You can never say never in football. I don't have a fear of going out and being booed," said Ferguson, 32. "It was the way it ended; I thought it was childish, to be told you will not represent your country again by fax." Ferguson was banned by the Scottish Football Association for taking part in a late-night drinking session at the Scotland team's hotel and making gestures to the media while sitting at Hampden as a substitute against Iceland when George Burley was in charge of the national team. "I held my hands up. I was stupid," said the former Rangers and Blackburn playmaker. "People can have a go and say I was having a go at the fans. That was nonsense. I made a stupid decision in the game, doing what I did in front of the media. "I let my family and the nation down. "I would have accepted the decision if someone had picked up the phone and said, 'You are finished with Scotland because of your antics at the game'. 

"But to captain Scotland is the pinnacle of your career, is it not?" If the reaction of the Tartan Army does not faze Ferguson, the stumbling blocks to a return seem to be the handling of the hotel and Hampden incidents by the SFA and the extra strain on his body that would accompany international football. Ferguson's family still live in central Scotland and he travels north from the Midlands whenever possible to be at home. He added: "When I signed for Birmingham my only concern was to play for them. Moving away from my family, the manager gave me time to come back up the road. "My break from internationals gives me more time to spend time with the family. "But to be asked back, it does play on your mind. It's not an easy decision to make." Scotland manager Craig Levein has stated that he would like to have Ferguson back in the squad, but had given up hope on the central midfielder changing his mind. Levein told BBC Scotland in July: "I wanted to give him an opportunity and he declined that opportunity. I don't see a way back from that." Ferguson, with 45 caps for his country, recalled: "Craig came down and we had a great chat. "He's a guy I have a lot of respect for. He wanted an answer before the Sweden game and my answer was 'no'. "Craig knows that I will speak to him. His words were, 'the door will never be shut'. "The time I spent with him down at the Birmingham training ground for two hours, I got a great feeling off him. It never leaves you - you always want to represent your country. "Watching the games, you want to be out there helping Scotland get to a major European finals. It does hurt not being part of it." A revitalised figure since his move to join Alex McLeish at Birmingham, Ferguson says he is in the best shape of his career and wants to enjoy his football all the more as the years pass. "Plenty of people have knocked me down. It's how you get back," he said. "I had that when I moved back up from Blackburn. There were a lot of Rangers fans that weren't happy but I had to go out and show them that I could still play.

Allan McGregor (r) has returned for Scotland. Will Ferguson follow?

"I feel a different person from what I was. "I don't know if it's getting away from carrying Rangers on my back everywhere I went, in terms of being the captain for seven or eight years. "But at the same time I loved every minute of it, and it was the same with Scotland." The player revealed he has not discussed a return to the Scotland squad with Kris Boyd or Lee McCulloch, who had asked not be selected under Burley's reign. Ferguson is a team-mate of James McFadden's at Birmingham and saw the effect on him of the press criticism of his performance in dark blue in the Euro qualifier against Liechtenstein. 

"The things in the press about Faddy put him under pressure," he said. "I saw him when he came down after the game. He was down in the dumps. It does affect you. "I said the best thing to do is go out on Sunday (against Liverpool) and show what you can do. He went out and he was superb."