Ryan Porteous relishing Euro 2024 after Tartan Army to Scotland squad journey

Ryan Porteous was so keen to be close to the action in the previous European Championship that he travelled to London with the Tartan Army to watch Scotland face England on television.

The defender had been in several Scotland squads before the delayed Euro 2020 but could not get tickets for Wembley or the two games at Hampden Park amid the reduced capacities of Covid restrictions.

The then Hibernian centre-back vowed to get into the set-up and be involved in such occasions next time and three years on Porteous is in a strong position to be in the starting line-up when Scotland kick off the latest European Championship against Germany in Munich on June 14.

The 25-year-old now has ten caps and played in the first seven games of Scotland’s successful qualifying campaign.

The Watford player recalled his previous Euros experience.

“I went down to London with my old man and a couple of mates,” he said.

“So that was good to watch it there. We didn’t actually go to the game, we just parked up and watched it. That was brilliant. I think we watched it in one of the hotels. I’m not too sure where I watched the other two.

“You’re always disappointed when you don’t make the squad because I was involved in a couple of them prior to those Euros. To be fair, I hadn’t really proven a lot that I should have been there so it wasn’t that big of a disappointment.

“But when you see the boys out there playing at Wembley and things like that you always have in the back of your mind that you really want to be involved in the next one.

“You can watch those games and be part of the fans but I set myself a target then that I really want to be involved in the next one and luckily I am.

“It’s brilliant, it’s what dreams are made of. But everyone had a pat on the back in recent months, now it is important we put that to one side and we have a job to do.”

The same group who went to London are following Scotland to Germany but, unlike Porteous, they will still be watching on television.

“They were begging me for tickets until I told them the price of the tickets,” he said. “They said they will stick to the fan zone.”

Porteous and his team-mates have business to take care of before then with two friendlies against Gibraltar and Finland, the first coming in Faro in Portugal on Monday evening.

Steve Clarke’s side have the ideal opportunity to end a seven-game run without a win, which includes five friendly defeats.

“The record has not been great in friendlies and that’s something we want to change right away,” Porteous said.

“Monday is the first chance to do that, so we won’t be taking any of these games lightly and there will be a lot of people that want to impress the manager and impress everybody.

“So it’s two games that are really, really important to us.”

Porteous goes into the game in fresh condition after making his last club appearance of the season on April 27.

“The Watford manager, Tom Cleverley, pulled me in the week before the end of the season and I think he had an eye on the amount of boys in the Scotland squad that were getting niggles and injuries,” he said.

“He told the boys that were going to the Euros and Copa America that they could have a week off before the last game.

“That was good of him and it gave us a chance to reset and get ready.”