BILLY STARK today revealed why he has handed Celtic starlet Paul Caddis the Scotland Under-21 captain's armband.

Stark's babes begin their European Championship qualifying programme at the Ruzhdi Bizhuta Stadium on Saturday before welcoming their opponents back for a quickfire return at the Falkirk Stadium tomorrow week.

And Stark reckons full-back Caddis - on loan at Dundee United until the end of the season - can play a key role in leading his side to a positive start.

He said: "I am delighted to see Paul getting regular first-team football. I have watched him on a number of occasions and he has done really well and is clearly benefiting from playing in the competitive environment of the SPL.

"I would have expected no less as he is a boy with terrific ability and a great attitude. Paul wants to be involved in the game and he is hungry to progress.

"When things are not going particularly well he will not hide. These are all attributes you want from your captain.

"So Paul epitomises the determination I would look for in a captain and he wants to lead by example. Particularly away from home in the first game of a European qualifier you need that in your skipper."

Stark has no doubt about the challenge awaiting his side.

Billy added: "To be honest, it is a tough fixture going to Albania in the opening game and they will rightly regard themselves as favourites.

"With the fact it is a double-header, and the other teams in the group are not playing, it does give both the Albanians and ourselves the chance to establish an early advantage.

"We know from the last campaign - when we lost late on to Finland at the start - that they topped the group right the way through and proved an early advan-tage can be significant.

"We know that we are playing against a team with a good home record from the last campaign and we know we will need to show resilience and defend well, but it will also be vital to take our opportunities.

"We are going into the unknown. In terms of what the opposition will do, we really don't know, so it is going to be tough, but we intend to be positive.

"It is an advantage we have boys like Paul, Scott Arfield, John Fleck, Andy Shinnie and Rory Loy all playing first-team football regularly.

"Hopefully the experience the lads will get from this qualification campaign will help those that are not getting a regular game with their first team to do so."