"After playing just a handful of games for Glasgow this season, the last thing on my mind was any kind of Scotland recognition. It was a big enough surprise when I heard last week that I was in the squad, but I didn't think there was a hope of being given a starting berth. Obviously the World Cup is in the back of everyone's mind at the moment and I am no exception."
"It is heartening to get the message that the Scotland selectors are still keeping tabs on you - even when you are not getting a regular game for your club - and I will do my utmost to show them that I am worth persevering with."
Alan still has a year of his contract to run with the Warriors. He said: "Unlike a lot of other guys in the Glasgow squad, I at least know where I am likely to be playing next term. We have had a pretty rotten second half to the season and I just hope I can play my part in getting us back on track."
Rory Kerr, who is also recalled, will be hoping his own selection will give him a similar opportunity to impress after failing to start a competitive game for Glasgow this season. "They've perhaps been discounted at Glasgow, but I've always been quite impressed with them, because they are very elusive players," Hugh Campbell, the Scotland A head coach and Scotland assistant coach, said of their recalls.
Campbell also commented on the inclusion of Jon Petrie at openside flanker, a position he has little senior experience of playing. "I don't believe you necessarily need a standard kind of Scottish No.7 because of the type of game we're playing, using players in wider, more expansive roles. Jon has the ball-playing abilities and fitness requirements to play the modern style of game we are looking for at No.7," said Campbell. "It is not set in stone, but is something we've really got to experiment with. In my book that's always been part of the A team's role."