Defiant Ryan Porteous believes his long-awaited Scotland debut "shut a few people up" as he looks to be handed further opportunities when Cyprus and Spain visit Hampden to kick off the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.
The former Hibernian defender earned his first national team cap during a goalless Nations League tie against Ukraine last September, which helped Scotland gain promotion to Group A. Porteous has since excelled after making a £300,000 move to Watford in January, and is in line to compete with Liam Cooper, Grant Hanley and late call-up Dom Hyam for a place in Steve Clarke's starting XI.
Scotland are looking to get off to a winning start on their road to Germany 2024 when they face Cyprus on Saturday and Porteous would love to play his part after getting a taste of what it's like to wear the dark blue jersey. He said: "I think it was quite a long time coming. I was being called up in a good few camps before then and I always had that faith that the manager would chuck me in with conversations I had with him. He made no hesitation to do that and he has no doubts so it was a great feeling. I think the lads done a lot for the team before that game that we only needed to go there and get a point but it was a great experience and I'm glad it went well.
Porteous had developed a "bad boy" during his time in Scottish football however the 24-year-old admits he's got used to cancelling out any media noise and is focused on earning more caps for his country.
"I think I'm quite a confident lad and I do back myself," Porteous continued. "I knew I was ready for that opportunity and I had full faith in the manager and the team in there as well so it was maybe a moment that shut a few people up and stuff like that.
"But listen, I've been quite good at not listening and reading the press in the past couple of years because it's not obviously been a fantastic place for me. I'm glad that it went well and now I think it's about kicking and trying to get that next cap.
"Hopefully it puts my hat into the mix and shows that I can be trusted on the big stage but as I say there's a very talented group in there. There's a lot of good defenders and players, and the main target target for is getting points on the board so I think no matter what team is selected, I just want to put myself in the hat for a start and if that doesn't happen, I'll just make sure I'm ready if called upon."
And Porteous reckons his switch to the English Championship arrived at a good time and is only going to benefit his chances of becoming a Scotland regular. He added: "The move has come at a good time for me. I wanted to get down there and take myself out the comfort zone that I've been in at Hibs for the last couple of years. I think it puts me in a better opportunity to become a better player faster and I think if I'm doing that then hopefully I can reap some rewards. I think I'm in a good place right now and I'm enjoying my football."
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