Kilmarnock ace David Watson reckons playing against Portugal's multi-million pound superkids will help him prepare for today's crunch game against Celtic.
Watson skippered Scotland Under 21s this week in their 2-0 home defeat against a Portuguese side crammed full of expensive talent.
He was up against the likes of Sporting Lisbon winger Geovany Quenda, who has already agreed a £44 million deal with Chelsea for next summer and his opposite number as captain was Mateus Fernandes - the midfielder who cost West Ham United £40 million and was later sent off at Fir Park for a challenge on Watson.
Today, the combative terrier will be facing Callum McGregor and co. as Killie look to grab their first league win of the season under new manager Stuart Kettlewell. They have drawn their opening four games and Watson reckons he can learn from this week's experience.
He said: "These games definitely help me. A lot of them play in European competitions, they're high-profile players and Celtic are the same, so it's not much difference.
"Maybe Celtic have a bit more experience than some of the younger lads that play with Portugal.
"But they were really good midweek and I'm sure Celtic will have some top quality players at the weekend as well.
"It's a quick turnaround, especially when you're playing international football. It means three games in less than a week so it's pretty tough going.
"But I love it, I love playing games. That's what I like to do. Now we've got a good challenge on Sunday and I'm looking forward to it.
"I'd say we've got a bit of confidence because our home record's really, really good, so we'll fancy our chances and we'll be as positive as we can and we'll try and put our authority and our stamp on the game."
Watson also had the captain's armband for Scotland Under 21s' opening Euro 2027 qualifier, which also ended in a 2-0 defeat in the Czech Republic.
It's been a disappointing start to the campaign and six points in next month's double-header against Gibraltar in Dundee and Azerbaijan in Baku is imperative. But Watson reckons Scot Gemmill's side should be cut some slack because they are a new group of players.
He pointed out: "To be fair, it's a new group, there's a lot of new players, so if you start at that stage you only get ten days in a camp, it's about trying to build a team and gel.
"It’s all well and good gelling off the park, but taking that onto the pitch is a different story. Not having a lot of time to work with the players and set us up is really difficult.
"But I thought we were actually all right in the game. We just lacked that wee bit of quality in the final third.
"We've played two, as we've found out in the last games, two top quality sides and that's why they’re pot one and pot two teams.
"Hopefully, we can maybe go away to the next two teams and build a bit of confidence and win the next two games.
"I think we just needed to have that bit of quality in the final third. I think we lacked that a wee bit and we had a couple of good chances that we maybe should have done better with.
"We just need to create more and maybe be braver in the final third and go and score. If you don't take our chances against a quality side like Portugal, they're definitely going to take their chances.
"But I really enjoyed captaining the side for the past two games."
