Scotland head coach Steve McCormack says its up to eligible Bravehearts players to be at their best in 2016 in preparation for the Four Nations.

West Cumbria has had a prominent link with McCormack's side in recent years, especially after hosting two Scotland fixtures during the 2013 Rugby League World Cup.

Workington Town’s Brett and Callum Phillips, Brett Carter and Alex Szostak have each picked up caps for Scotland and Whitehaven’s Sam Brooks made his international debut in Saturday’s defeat against France.

Despite Scotland finishing as ‘wooden spooners’ in this year’s European Championships, McCormack remains upbeat as he turns his attention to the Four Nations.

“We always knew it was going to be tough this year,” he said. “We made a conscious decision to look at some of our younger players because we can’t afford to do that next year with the Four Nations or the year after with the World Cup.

“We did something similar in 2011 in preparation for the World Cup and we found some good players who have since served us.

“For the Four Nations we’ll be looking at Super League and NRL players too, but they all have to play well otherwise they won’t be picked.

“We’ll only pick players who have put their hands up and have had excellent seasons for their clubs.

“We had a similar player pool for the World Cup two years ago but we decided to pick the likes of the Phillips brothers, Alex and Brett from Workington.”

McCormack, who is now going into his 13th season as Scotland boss, said he was delighted with Brooks who made his debut after being called up to the squad just a fortnight ago.

“Having Sam in the squad was a massive plus for us,” McCormack continued. “He came through the system at Wigan and our scout there knows a lot about him.

“I was then told that Sam might be eligible to play for us in France.

“He’s played really well for Whitehaven this season and he made a good impression at the weekend.

“I’m so proud of how the young lads coped with the challenge.

“We had three debuts [against France] and more than half the squad were young kids who have come through the Scotland Rugby League pathway.

“That stands us in good stead for the next 10 years.

“I think we’ll look back on this week and say that it was tough but it was actually a great thing for Scottish rugby league because we’ve given those boys a chance and they’ve taken it.”

Scotland trailed 26-4 at half-time but fought back to restore some pride and won the second half 14-6.

Speaking after his side’s 32-18 defeat at the weekend McCormack added: “I’ve got mixed emotions. It was an outstanding effort but we’re disappointed because if we’d started the first half like we started the second, we’d have won the game.

“The same thing happened against Wales and Ireland - we paid the price for poor starts and lost three games we could have won.”