IT HAS BEEN a tried and tested recruitment path for Derek Adams.

Since taking his first hot-seat job south of the border in 2015, the City boss has never been reluctant to take the high road back to Scotland for players.

Graham Carey and Jake Jervis, two who played for him with Ross County, were among the first to follow Adams when he was appointed at the Plymouth helm nearly seven years ago.

The pair would score 26 goals between them in his first season which ended in play-off final defeat to Wimbledon at Wembley. They netted 28 together a year later as Plymouth went up behind League Two champions Portsmouth.

Playmaker Carey, currently second in the Bulgarian League with CSKA Sofia, finished with 49 goals in total in four successful years at Home Park.

Adams also took Gregg Wylde from St Mirren in that first summer and he was another regular fixture in the side before earning a move to Millwall.

Ahead of his second season as Plymouth boss, Adams would add Yann Songo’o and Gary Miller – two more former players from his Ross County team.

City’s recent hit rate from Scotland hardly compares.

Gary Bowyer beat off interest from Michael Flynn’s Newport for Dunfermline defender Jackson Longridge in 2019.

But the left back played only five games, spending a chunk of his time on loan at Torquay, before heading back to Livingston last January.

Then there was Glenn Middleton, the Rangers winger who turned out to be Bowyer’s last signing without playing for him. He appeared just three times before the outbreak of the pandemic brought his loan spell to an abrupt end.

But Adams looks to have unearthed a gem in Jamie Walker on the evidence of the Hearts man’s eye-catching debut.

And the Bantams chief does not understand why some still look down their nose at the Scottish game and the other leagues beyond the English borders.

“There definitely is that from supporters at every football club,” he said. “They look at a player and where they’ve been at.

“The top eight clubs in Scotland are all more than capable of playing in England. They often play in the Champions’ League, you’ve got to remember.

“I’ve played and managed there and it is a really good league.

“Jamie has had to play in Edinburgh derbies and against Rangers and Celtic. These are high-profile football matches where you’ve got live television on you all the time and the media outlets.

“I’ve always felt that since I’ve come to England we do a lot less media than it is in the Scottish Premier League. There is a lot more of that pressure up there.

“If the scout thinks someone can make the transition from one level to another, then we’ve all seen in the past how that can transform a player.

“I’ve had it over a number of years when I was at Plymouth Argyle.

“You only have to look at the amount of players that we took in that our supporters didn’t know about that then became fans’ favourites in the end.

“I think that will be no different once we start identifying the players we are doing and be able to take them in.

“We’re not just looking in the lower tiers or the similar league to ourselves. We’re looking at players that we feel can add to our squad.”

Adams was keen to implement a wider scouting network once he got his feet under the table at Valley Parade.

Previous director of recruitment Lee Turnbull was replaced by a trio of scouts who had worked with the manager at Plymouth.

Ian Roscrow covers England and Wales, Stuart Millar concentrates on Scotland and Alan Young is City’s presence in Ireland – where there is growing competition.

Adams has revealed that the Bantams are targeting a player from the League of Ireland but face a battle with Rotherham. Local newspaper reports claim both clubs are chasing Bohemians striker Georgie Kelly, last season’s league top scorer.

“The competition is a wee bit more difficult because the English are buying players from Ireland (rather than taking them on loan),” admitted Adams.

Spreading themselves across a wider area has given City more of a “big-club mentality” according to Adams, who announced the changes at the start of October.

He also believes it can offer them a head start at times in the ever-saturated player market with the chance to look away from the crowd for potentially untapped talent.

“I certainly did that with Jamie Walker,” added Adams. “I was able to keep that one very quiet.

“I’ve done it before and taken in players that nobody knew.

“There are a lot of avenues you can look at. It’s how you blend them into your team.

“That’s what I’ve always tried to do. I try to take in players that suit the way we play.”