Ryan Gauld glad to fly Saltire in Champions League

Ryan Gauld, pictured with Egyptian forward Mahmoud Shikabala, could be lining up against Chelsea. Picture: Getty

The former Dundee United teenager was named in the Portuguese giants’ A squad list for this season’s Champions League campaign, despite only playing for their B team so far.

Remarkably, he would be the only Scot to feature in the tournament this season after Celtic’s exit and with Darren Fletcher’s Manchester United not even in Europe.

Gauld celebrated the news with his first goals for the Scotland Under-21 side as his double helped Billy Stark’s squad end their European Championship campaign on a high with a 3-0 win following their 1-1 draw last week away to group winners Slovakia.

And he was still surprised by the news of his inclusion in Sporting’s squad, which could see the 18-year-old line up against Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea.

Gauld said: “I heard about it through Twitter, actually. It’s great to be in the squad and hopefully at some point I can maybe even be a part of it in games.

“I was actually quite surprised. I’ve been playing with the B team and the A team have got a lot of depth and strength in the team so when the news did come out I was quite surprised.

“There was no indication from the manager because I think the draw was just a couple of days before I came back, so there wasn’t too much said about it and they were just going about it week by week. So I’m just delighted with being named in the squad and I’m looking forward to it.

“I can only keep doing my best and keep doing what I try and do best and keep plugging away to make sure I am in his thoughts.

“To be involved in any way would be a great experience and something I would remember for a long time but at the same time I’m not expecting anything. I’m keeping things realistic and I’m not hoping for too much, too soon.

“There’s a lot of new experiences just in the couple of months or so that I’ve been there and there have been a lot of challenges as well and I’m sure there will be more to come and I can only look forward to it.”

Now Gauld – who was mobbed by Sporting Lisbon autograph hunters after the Under-21s’ game in Luxembourg – has to deal with the task of getting Champions League tickets for his friends.

He admitted: “I’ve already had a couple of requests. And I’ve had a few texts congratulating me and it comes up in conversation because I keep in touch with them all. It’s nice for me.”

Gauld believes his experiences in Portugal have already helped him improve as a player since his summer move from Tannadice.

“The tempo of games in Portugal is closer to international games,” he said. “When you play in the Premiership and you go away and play in an international game it’s hard to adapt to it really quickly because the speed of the game is much quicker at international level. Being in Portugal is making me adapt to that more easily at international level as well.”

Gauld has been tipped for a call-up to Gordon Strachan’s senior side, but is just focusing on the next campaign for the Under-21s and is optimistic about the future for the young Scots.

“We’ve played a really young team in both games and that’s promising as we look to the next campaign,” he added. “Slovakia are a really good outfit and we did very well against them and obviously conceding in the last minute put us on a bit of a downer.

“Luxembourg can make life really difficult for teams – Holland only won there on the back of a penalty – so we can be happy with scoring three goals and keeping a clean sheet.

“Everyone gets on very well together and that helps and you are building personal relationships that help on the pitch as well. Everything is looking good towards the next campaign.”