Porteous caps roller-coaster spell with call of recognition
JUST nine days had elapsed since Steven Gerrard and a group of his Rangers players refused to acknowledge Ryan Porteous in the wake of an ill-tempered 2-2 draw at Easter Road.
Last night, however, the young Hibernian defender was celebrating recognition of the international kind after being called up by Scotland boss Steve Clarke ahead of next week’s huge Euro 2020 play-off with Israel followed by a Nations League double-header with Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Porteous had been accused by Gerrard of branding his captain James Tavernier a ‘bad loser’ in the wake of that Leith draw on September 20 that saw Rangers concede their first domestic goals of the new season.
The Ibrox boss was also left angered by a physical challenge by the 21-year-old on Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos.
‘I think Porteous was saying that Tav’s a bad loser, which I think is a bit cheap coming from him,’ said the former Liverpool midfielder.
‘He got sent off for a really bad tackle (on Borna Barisic) when he was losing 3-0 against us here last season.’ Porteous, for his part, was ‘not bothered’ about Rangers players refusing to shake his hand, adding: ‘What happens on the pitch should probably just stay on the pitch... it was a coming together (with Morelos) really. I don’t think it was anything more than that.’ However, in an ironic twist, the fact that Porteous was suspended for the Under-21 side’s qualifier in the Czech Republic next Friday has opened the door for him to join up with the full national team.
Clarke had previously named the Easter Road youth academy graduate in his Scotland squad for last year’s Euro 2020 qualifiers against Cyprus and Kazakhstan but Porteous was not included in either matchday squad.
However, after naming a larger than usual 26-man squad, he will have another chance to impress ahead of three games at Hampden in quick succession with Israel visiting on October 8, Slovakia three days later and the Czechs on October 14.
‘I had Ryan (Porteous) with us last November and he trained well,’ Scotland boss Clarke told the Scottish FA website.
‘He’s had a good start to the season with Hibs and I look forward to seeing him in training.
‘When you have so many big games in such a short space of time, it’s important to have extra players available.
‘With the Covid-19 virus, it’s a little bit more difficult to call people in and out of your protected bubble so we decided to go with a slightly bigger squad.’
Last night, Porteous spoke of his delight at getting another chance to impress Clarke and perhaps even make his full debut.
‘It means everything,’ he told the Hibs website.
‘It maybe sounds like a cliche but it’s true — whenever you pull on a Scotland strip, at any age group, it’s an honour.
‘Everyone made me feel really welcome (the last time I was called up by Scotland), so I didn’t feel overawed at any stage.
‘It was a great experience and it just made me want it all the more.
‘I just want to show the staff what I can do and play my part in whatever way I can, whether it’s getting a chance to play in one of the games or making sure training is as competitive as possible.
‘It’s a privilege and the sort of thing I would never take for granted, so I’ll go there and give it my all.’