HE may be one of the lynchpins of the Celtic defence. But as far as one notable observer of his national team goes, he should be an afterthought when it comes to representing his country. Hoops star Cameron Carter-Vickers has endured somewhat of a down year this season, with injuries in particular playing a large part. The defender is still on course to be part of a Treble-winning squad but he is also desperate for success as international level. The USA will be one of the three hosts (with Mexico and Canada) for the World Cup in a year's time but before that they set their sights on retaining their CONCACAF Nations League title. But a shock recent loss to Panama put paid to those hopes and the reaction in the States has been less than complimentary. And to make matters worse, the USA followed up that crushing defeat by losing 2-1 to rivals Canada. Carter-Vickers had actually been left out of the starting XI for the game against Panama, which was decided with a 94th-minute strike by Cecilio Waterman. Whether boss Mauricio Pochettino thought it was best to rest Carter-Vickers (assuming they got to the final) or had simply chose to drop him, is anyone's guess. But he was called into the starting XI for the third-place play-off against Canada and didn't do much to silence any doubters. Legendary US goalkeeper Tony Meola, who won exactly 100 caps for his nation and represented them at the 1990, 19904 and 2002 World Cups and won two CONCACAF Gold Cups with the team, admits he was far from impressed by what he saw from the 27-year-old Celtic star. When asked about Pochettino's future selection options ahead of this summer's Gold Cup, Meola told CBS Sports: “How are we defining Gold Cup guys? “Don’t you think that he (Pochettino) is going to call everybody that is available now, based on what happened in the Nations League? “That would be my only question. “We've still got to see more centre-backs. “Cameron Carter-Vickers, who is he? I didn’t necessarily like what I saw against Canada. “If we think about Mark McKenzie, if we split him in those two categories (Gold Cup and World Cup). “He is a World Cup guy right now. Pochettino believes in him. “Chris Richards, as much as I don’t think he has played well in a national team jersey, he has done well at club level, so throw him in.” Indeed, this isn't the first time Meola has had a pop at Carter-Vickers. He rubbished his performance in another defeat to Panama last year, in which the Stars and Stripes lost 2-1. Meola said at that time: “Across the backline, Anthony Robinson is the only one I give a grade to in this match to be honest. “Cameron Carter-Vickers - whatever that lowest grade is we want to give a player, he was poor in the game and almost cost the U.S. before.” Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page