RANGERS wide man Fraser Aird insists he has no regrets after choosing Canada over Scotland and cannot wait to make his debut.
Aird has opted to accept an invite from Canada to play in a friendly this week against Ghana before they start their World Cup qualifiers next month, despite playing for Scotland's youth teams.
The 20-year-old revealed he received the go-ahead from Ibrox manager Mark Warburton before committing to the North American nation.
Aird said: "I was born in Canada, and I’m Canadian. I grew up for 16 years of my life in Canada. I have Scottish parents and Scottish grandparents, but they decided to move to Canada and have been living there for 20 years, so they’re Canadian, too.
"I did have that choice to play for Scotland and it was tough, but I just thought that maybe I had a better chance to play for Canada – making more appearances and getting into the first team quicker.
"Hopefully this is my foot in the door, and I can establish myself and do well enough for Canada that I can contribute for years to come.
"Canada's assistant coach Michael Findlay spoke to me a few times and spoke to my dad when I was making my decision. He put it out there that Canada wanted me to play for them, and that the team was looking to move forward, and obviously qualify for the World Cup.
"He said they had big plans for the young players, so I was keen and happy to hear about that. I had already made up my own mind that I wanted to play for Canada, but that certainly helped.
"I was called up for the 2013 Gold Cup by Canada, but I wasn’t really set on who I wanted to play for at the time. But as more time went by, I realised I should make my decision sooner rather than later, so I can have a better chance of playing for my country longer.
"I’m 20 now, and I guess you could say I’m a young boy, but as you know, football is such a short career and I really didn’t want to waste any more time. I wanted to make my decision and focus on that one decision, so I wasn’t jumping back and forth between the two.
"I just thought if I made my decision then hopefully I could get a call up and become a Canadian international as soon as possible, and then continue that and have a good career with Canada.
"Mark Warburton was delighted. He was supportive this year with me going away with Canada. He knows that it’s a good experience for me and that it can only make me better as a player at club level."
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