RYAN PORTEOUS’S Scotland debut may have been a long time coming, but the ease at which he has adapted to top-level international football owes much to the strong foundations he built before his outstanding senior bow last September.

Porteous has been around the national set-up for some time, coming through the age groups before receiving his first call-up to the ‘A’ team back in November 2019. He made another camp a year later, and then another a year after that, but a first cap eluded him until fate intervened.

Facing something of an injury crisis for the crucial Nations League decider away to Ukraine, Steve Clarke threw Porteous into his back three, and the big centre-back excelled, turning in a mountainous performance to help the Scots to a 0-0 draw and the crucial point they needed to top their section.

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So, while there have been more than a few who doubted the credentials of the Watford and former Hibernian man to take that step up, he had long been preparing for it.

Since then, he has amassed a further four caps, with three more clean sheets along the way. Only an Erling Haaland penalty – which he himself gave away, but maintains it was of the soft variety – has found its way into the Scotland net while he has been on the pitch.

So, the man who once infamously asked ‘Do I look happy?’, certainly seems well adjusted to international football.

“I was involved since I was about 18 in the squads,” Porteous, now 24, said.

“So, I was turning up every camp, training, sitting on the bench and learning from top players and a top manager.

“When I made my debut. I thought it was the right time for me, and I’ve made the move down to Watford which I think has helped me to progress.

“Now it’s just about trying do what I can to stay in there and stay fit for every single game.”

Scotland’s defensive resolve isn’t all about Porteous, of course. In fact, it isn’t even just about the defence. Clarke has built a team that is difficult to play through from the top back, and if the ball does make its way towards the area, opposition teams are finding it nigh-on impossible to get it any further.

“It’s something we’ve worked on, trying to limit shots on goal, especially from within the box,” Porteous said.

“Even against Spain and Norway, we limited them to one or two shots in the box each, so that’s something we’ve definitely been working on and I’m glad that it’s paying off.”

It certainly is, with Clarke’s team the first Scotland outfit to reel off four consecutive wins at the start of a qualification campaign in history. That those results included a humbling of Spain and an against-the-odds, smash-and-grab triumph away to Norway makes the feat all the more impressive.

Understandably, the fans and the media are rather gripped by it all, but getting carried away is something that Porteous is happy to leave to the rest of us.

“Is that the first time it’s happened [that we’ve won our first four games]? That’s brilliant,” he said.

“This team continues to make its own history, every time we go away there seems to be something.

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“We can’t take it for granted because we’ve done nothing yet. We’ve had a fantastic first half of the group, but we know there are massive games to come as well, so we’ve got to concentrate and - I know it’s a cliché - but take one game at a time and see where it takes us.

“Listen, we enjoy every night as it comes, but we probably don’t look at the bigger picture as much as you do, but that’s your job. You’ve got to get the fans excited and quite right too.

“But I think it’s very important that we are grounded, because throughout history – as the gaffer’s said in the press – when you think you are doing well that’s when football can bite you. So, we’re just taking it a game at a time.

“It’s definitely special that we are managing to keep progressing, but nothing is special until you get there.

“A lot of people probably wouldn’t have thought the group that did qualify for the Euros was special until they actually did qualify, so we’re probably in the same boat here.

“We just need to keep grounded, and try to get there first before we celebrate.”