Only in Scotland, the country where they wish failure on an international debutant

Anthony Ralston made his debut for Scotland last night. It capped off what has been a wonderful year for the player who played an integral part in our march to the league last season.

This time a year ago, it seemed the same player didn’t have much of a future at Celtic and that he was going to have to do his very best to prove to Ange Postecoglu that he was worthy of a place in his team.

In a way, Anthony Ralston was lucky there was a mass exodus out of Celtic Park off the back of the disastrous 2020/21 campaign.

Due to the sheer lack of options available at right back, the player was given his chance very early on to show the new boss what he could do.

He took that chance with both hands and if you were to be honest, without doubt, he was the stand out player of the 2021/22 season.

He put in some remarkable shifts during the run to the 2022 title, showing a grit and determination that many of us never knew was there.

Obviously something clicked when Anthony met Ange Postecoglu and it seemed the Greek-Australian got the very best out of him from the get go.

In a way, his rise from the ashes reminds me of Bobby Petta back during the O’Neill era. Petta was a player who, similar to Ralston, could not get near the first team prior to Martin O’Neill’s arrival.

Everybody remembers how he terrorised the Rangers 1872 during the 6-2 mauling. Prior to that game, I barely knew who he was.

Martin O’Neill knew there was a player in there and he got the best out of him.

Ange seems to have that same effect on players and he has played a huge part in bringing the very best out of Anthony Ralston.

He will always be remembered for his injury time winner against Ross County in December of last year. In fact, many people look on that as a