Ryan Porteous admits he could’ve 'gone under' amid criticism from Steven Gerrard and Co

Ryan Porteous admits some kids could have gone under in the face of such savage stick.

But it wasn’t going to happen to him. Not with the strong support of friends, family and the likes of Steve Clarke at his back. Porteous’ career is blossoming at Watford with excellent performances cementing his Scotland place. It wasn’t always so smooth for the 24-year-old.

As a Hibs player, he was the subject of severe criticism over his aggressive and committed style, with Rangers boss Steven Gerrard particularly scathing on more than one occasion. Porteous had to deal with it all and reflected: “I think if I didn’t have as many people around me that help you out, a lot of people could go under with the stuff I kind of dealt with. But I had good managers, good team-mates and a good group of mates and family that always said don’t listen to it and read it and I taught myself not to.

“When you are young and coming through, you always pick up your phone and go on Twitter or whatever and you look at it. There are a lot of young lads that might go through similar that could go under, but I always had a good group of people behind me and, obviously, within football who said don’t listen to it.

“You learn from mistakes. You take the positives as well. I think that kind of stuff makes you stronger. You learn from the naivety you have at a young age. It’s stood me in good stead. I’ve not been hotheaded for a while. There have been flare-ups at times. Listen, hopefully I’ve got better. A better player. A better person. On and off the park as well. You learn.

“I don’t think it was as big a problem as it was made out to be, but, hopefully, the one thing that’s changed over the last three or four years is I’ve become a better player.”

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