Hibs great reveals details of Scotland's Euro 2024 mindset

Porteous (right) and Kieran Tierney in training with Scotland at Lesser Hampden. | SNS Group

Former Hibs captain Ryan Porteous has provided some genuine insight into the psychology at work in Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad. And he’s revealed how the group setting goals could be key to the national team making history at Euro 2024.

Clarke’s men, who take on Gibraltar in their penultimate pre-tournament friendly at 5 pm today, face host nation Germany in the European Championships opener in Munich on June 14, before facing Switzerland and Hungary to round off their Group A programme. Porteous says belief within the group is growing.

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Aware that no Scotland men’s side has ever progressed beyond the group stages at a major final, former Easter Road favourite Porto declared: "We're a squad that, over the last four, five years, we've been setting these mini-records for ourselves. We've done quite a lot. But no Scotland team's ever got out the group - so it's definitely something that everybody wants within that changing room.

"We've got quality littered throughout the squad; you see the depth. We've always said that our squad's our strength and I think we've showed that in that last campaign There's a real belief but there's also a real hunger to try and make that next step."

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Porteous, a product of the Hibs academy who moved to Watford in the 2023 January transfer window, is in contention to start against the Germans in front of a huge global TV audience on Friday week. The central defender, who has 10 full caps for Scotland to his name, admits that becoming a mainstay is now his focus, saying: “Yeah, I definitely think that’s my text target - to repay the faith the manager has shown in me for a long time. The next step is doing it in a major tournament.”