Should Scotland ever successfully embark on another adventure of to a major tournament, Ryan Christie will be first in line at the kilt fitting.

Craig Brown’s side famously turned up at the 1998 World Cup having been kitted out in their kilts for the opening ceremony in Paris, a striking arrival that Christie quite fancies.

The Highlander recently attempted to claim the most patriotic Scotsman title in the Celtic dressing room after a heated debate about wedding attire with his fellow countrymen and he is hoping that ultimately there is something to get dressed up for in the coming months.

“I had an argument with the boys – I said I was more patriotic than they were,” he laughed.

“It all started with a debate about weddings. They said they would wear a suit for their wedding and I thought it was normal to wear a kilt. I’m in the right, am I not?

“I was getting stick for it. Of course I’ll wear a kilt to my wedding – any opportunity.”

“Kieran Tierney, James [Forrest] and Callum [McGregor] were all there and it got to the point where I was pulling others in from outside to try and get more on my side.

“But most of them said they would plump for a suit as well!

“I’m not sure I won the vote, but I still know I’m right!”

Christie is of a generation for whom success for Scotland is something that has never been witnessed in real time. The playmaker recalls family parties that effectively turned into post-mortems as tournaments came and went without invite, something that the current group have the weight of changing.

“For any big Scotland games my family would make a party of it and we had loads of folk round at the house to watch,” said Christie. “There is a big Scotland following from the north and I could see that for real when I was called up because of the number of calls and messages I received.

“It’s nice to get that and makes me proud and hopefully I can go away and make an impact.

“I remember the James McFadden goal against France and Gary Caldwell’s goal against France at Hampden. Basically we always had a houseful and a good laugh sitting down watching the football on TV and I identified with the international team from a young age.

“Unfortunately my memories of watching Scotland always end with disappointment after the qualifiers and the aim for everyone in this camp is to be the squad that makes it to a competition.

“To go down in history would be amazing.”

Christie goes into Alex McLeish’s squad as one of the in-form players having seized his recent chance at Celtic. With the ink still drying on a new three-year contract with the Parkhead side, Christie is keen to bring his enthusiasm and energy into the national side.

“I was delighted to be called up again and the with two big games coming up the next job is to make an impact for my country,” he said.

“After I made my debut against Holland last season I needed to keep my head down and concentrate on club football and eventually I knew international football would come.

“Going into the two big games the boys at Celtic have a lot of momentum going into this camp and hopefully the manager can look at that and can put us in. We have a lot of positivity and feel as if we’re playing at the top of our game.”