SAM PARKIN was today anxiously awaiting the damage report on the hip injury he sustained in Mattersburg last night after a painful introduction to international football.

The Town striker's Scotland debut lasted just 23 minutes before he was forced out of the clash with Austria. However, he is confident that his first taste of action for Walter Smith's team won't prove to be his last.

Parkin, pictured during his brief debut, was given a pre-match boost when Smith named him in the starting line-up but a collision with the home team's goalkeeper saw him hobble off with just quarter of the match having been played.

Speaking from the team hotel he said: "I'm obviously bitterly disappointed with what's happened and maybe I was a touch over eager going for the ball which caused me to injure the left hip.

"I was feeling really good going into the match and full of confidence as I'd worked hard and trained well.

"Still, you have to accept that injuries are part of football and these things happen. It was about 10 minutes into the game and I thought I'd be able to shake the problem off.

"It soon became obvious to me that I couldn't. Besides if I'd tried to carry on then I clearly wouldn't have done myself justice. After getting ice on it the doctor has examined me and thinks there might be a bit of muscle damage.

"We won't know the extent of it for sure until I've had things checked out with Dick Mackey back in Swindon.

"It's certainly been a painful night, that's for sure."

Parkin and the rest of the Scotland squad were due back at Heathrow Airport today before returning to their respective clubs to prepare for domestic action this weekend.

Whether Parkin will be fit to take on Tranmere Rovers at the County Ground looks extremely doubtful at this stage.

However, while there may be some short term pain, he is confident that long term he does have an international future.

He said: "I've been selected for this trip on the basis of my club form, I've not disgraced myself and I'm sure if I continue to perform at club level then there will be opportunities in the future for me."

Scotland manager Walter Smith said: "He hurt his hip very early in the game when he clashed with a player and knocked the boy down. He felt it so we just felt we had to get him off."

Parkin's injury apart, Smith was satisfied with his makeshift Future team.

The 2-1 defeat in Mattersburg left the Scots pointless after two games in a B international tournament that also features Germany, Poland and Turkey.

The home side had enjoyed the better of the play in the first hour and were two up thanks to goals from Wolfgang Mair and Michael Morz but Smith saw his players respond strongly and they were eventually rewarded with a well-taken goal from Celtic striker Craig Beattie.

Smith added: "It was always going to be difficult getting the whole lot of them together and trying to get a decent performance and I thought the first half showed that.

"We were a little bit better in the second half and tried to get into the game a bit more.

"We hit the post, scored and Andy Webster had another good opportunity towards the end so we might have got back on level terms."