Ryan Porteous is delighted with how the national under-21 team have begun their Euro Championship qualifying campaign but ahead of their crucial double-header against Lithuania and Czech Republic, he refuses to entertain any talk of reaching the finals just yet.
With Scotland having taken six points from six with wins over San Marino and Croatia, they are in a great position but Porteous insists they are living by the old cliché of one game at a time.
“No matter how well we have started the campaign, we don’t have any right to start talking about qualification right now,” he said.
“We can maybe start talking about that if we’re still sitting in this position going into the final two games but until then we don’t have the right to speak about it so we’ll just take it game by game.”
Scot Gemmill’s squad is relatively settled and while Porteous expects a tough challenge from Lithuania this evening, he believes the players’ familiarity with each other will be of huge value.
“We’ll be well prepared for Lithuania, it will be a really tough game," he said.
“We have watched them and they look a really athletic, energetic team, so we know what to expect.
“We have been together for the last three or four years so everyone knows each other really well so that helps.
“We know we’re a good bunch of players and we know the continuity in the camp is really good so we are a confident bunch but as I said we need to take it game by game.”
Porteous is a regular in the Hibs first team these days although an injury lay-off knocked him off track slightly. And the 20-year-old was delighted to have regained his fitness in time to make it into Gemmill’s national squad.
“My main target was to get back playing for Hibs week in, week out and be fit for them and anything on top of that would be a bonus," he said.
"I think I’m 100 percent match fit, I just need to get that sharpness. It’s just sometimes, when the ball gets whipped into the box, I need the sharpness - as a defender, that’s the main thing.
“Fortunately I have been called up for the last two group games and we’ll be looking for two positive results again.”
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