Ally McCoist believes Ryan Porteous will have tougher games as a defender but that he can be 'delighted' with his showing for Scotland.
The former Hibernian defender made only his second appearance for the national side as the Scots saw off Cyprus with a 3-0 victory at Hampden Park. Fellow former Hibee John McGinn was the star again as he volleyed home in the first half before Manchester United star Scott McTominay netted a late brace to hand Steve Clarke's side the win.
Porteous, now honing his craft at Watford after making the exit from Easter Road, took the plaudits of pundits and fans alike for his showing on Saturday with Rangers hero McCoist quick to point out his exploits. The popular pundit believes one particular trait shows how far the 23-year-old has come.
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He said on Viaplay Sports when asked if it was an assured performance: “It was, he was very solid. He had one dodgy moment where he picked up a yellow card, but five minutes later he did the right thing where he could have fouled and possibly picked up a second yellow but he stood his ground.
“He can absolutely be delighted with his performance. Defensively he’ll have a lot more difficult games, of that’s there’s no doubt.
“What I was impressed with: he doesn’t half fire it into the inside channel. He was testing Ryan Christie, he was testing Stuart Armstrong. He put good passes in there. I thought his use of the ball was very good.”
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