Ryan Porteous admits that the buoyant Scotland support in recent times has been one of the main factors for their unexpected rise - though he is adamant that Steve Clarke's side can improve.
Porteous was given the task of marking Erling Haaland on Saturday evening as Norway aimed to capitalise on their own poor start to the Euro 2024 qualifiers - and whilst he gave away a penalty for the Premier League star to tuck home, he dealt relatively well with the demands a Scotland ran out 2-1 winners.
It has been a solid twelve months for Porteous; the tough decision to leave Hibs for Watford came in January, and since making his Tartan Army debut in October, the Edinburgh-born star has taken like a duck to water to the Championship with a string of stellar displays. And he has admitted that whilst he needed to leave Hibs to test himself more, there are way more avenues for him to explore by facing the likes of the Norwegian goal-machine.
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Porteous said: “I think I’ve done alright. I would say I’ve turned up for Scotland a better player. I’m still a young boy, still improving. But I’m getting to the point where I have to kick on now and progress. I have to be a mainstay for Watford and Scotland.
“I think I’ve become a better player every year but especially in the last six months. My Scotland debut (against Ukraine away) probably took me to a place where I felt I could step up to this level.
“And it also showed everyone else I could step up too. That has progressed me quite fast. Also the experienced players at Watford have helped me. At Hibs, I learned for five or six years but I had probably learned as much as I could there. It was important to go to a different environment with players who have seen a lot of different things.
“This team are only getting better. But there is a long way to go in the group. We need to take it one game at a time. Growing up as a Hibs fan taught me that!
“But when you’re kicking a ball around the garden, what you dream of is playing at a World Cup or a Euros. Tuesday night is a sell-out. Four or five years ago that might not have been the case for a game against a team like Georgia.
“But you saw when we played Cyprus that a packed Hampden can push you through. How do I deal with the pressure and expectation? This whole group is trying to change that mentality.
“If fans aren’t there in numbers, you can fall asleep on the pitch. When lots of people are relying on you to do well for the nation – that helps you.”
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