Members of the Hornets squad talk us through their careers so far, in their own words.

This time, it's Ryan Porteous...

Boyhood Dream       I started at Aberdeen, but being from Edinburgh there was a lot of travel involved in that.

I grew up supporting Hibernian, and when they approached my Dad when I was 12, it was a no brainer to move closer to home, and play for the team that I supported.

I managed to get my shot when I was about 17. It was a dream come true for my family and myself, because we are such avid Hibs fans. Getting to play for them, it was always a dream, so I was lucky to do that for several years.

I remember my debut was away from home at Ibrox against Rangers. I was 17 at the time, and I remember Neil Lennon, the manager, pulled me into his office and he basically said "I have to play you" because he had no-one else.

That was his way of keeping me grounded - he was a brilliant man-manager and someone I have always got to thank for giving me that opportunity to go and play. To play for Hibs in front of the fans, it was a bit surreal at the start. There is always a lot of pressure being homegrown, but it was brilliant.

Looking back I was probably a bit naive to what was going on, I was young and at the time the team were doing so well.

We had several quality players in the squad, including John McGinn. I was obviously nervous going into the game but not overly so, and played with that freedom of youth, and it all went well.

We won 2-1 on the day. It could have gone horribly wrong but I was thankful the manager had the faith to chuck me in. It was a nerve-wracking time but being young helped.

Crossing The Border       Coming here was a big opportunity, and I think it was the right time to leave Scotland. I wanted to come to a club that had everything and after seeing the training ground and the stadium, as well as the quality in the squad, it was a no brainer.

Since I’ve come here, I’ve loved every minute of it - where I live, the people, the staff, the fans are brilliant as well home and away, so it was a no brainer. It is a great club and that’s why I chose it.

It’s a cliché but in Scotland you need to give 100 per cent every game given the gulf in quality between some of the teams.

In the Championship it is the same. Giving 100 per cent in every game is imperative, so being able to do that is probably what I learnt the most from Scotland to take over here.

Yes Sir, I Can Boogie       I made my Scotland debut shortly before joining Watford and I think coming down here and playing every week developed the trust with the Scotland gaffer Steve Clarke and showed that I can do it at international level.

There is no better feeling in football than representing your country and hearing the national anthem - nothing comes close to that, and I think everybody who has played internationally will say the same thing.

Clarke has shown a lot of faith in me. He’s been calling me up since I was 18/19 and it’s good to repay that faith.

We had a good qualifying campaign, and I’m really looking forward to the Euros. We can do something special there, we’ve got a tough group, but we’ve got the quality if we’ve got everyone fit to really go and try to impress there.

There was a bit of relief when we qualified, as we put in a lot of hard work to get us in a position with two/three games to go.

It was a great feeling, and we did a great job of celebrating that night as well. It was a good old-fashioned Scottish way of dealing with things, and that was brilliant.

This is only the second time in my lifetime that Scotland have qualified for an international tournament, so to be a part of that is a dream come true.

We’ll go to the Euros high in confidence, hoping we can put on a show.

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