Rangers' Fraser Aird is due to make his first competitive appearance for his country of birth Canada tonight in a World Cup qualifier. The Canadians take on Honduras, in Vancouver, in the North American pre-qualifiers for Russia 2018. Mexico and El Salvador are also in Canada's group so Aird knows just how important it is to get off to a good start at home with such strong opposition to come. He said: "I am really looking forward to it, all the boys seem to be really up for it and there is a good buzz about the camp. Hopefully in our first game against Honduras on Friday we can get off to a good start and can get our foot in the door in our group and get three points on the board. The first game is massive and would put us in good stead going forward. We’re in a really tough group – Mexico make the World Cup every time, Honduras were in the last one and El Salvador is a tricky place to go and they will be a very good technical team when we play against them. As everyone says, you need to go and perform on the day and get points on the board and hopefully that happens on Friday in front of a home crowd in Vancouver, that would push us on. Honduras played in the last World Cup so they are no mugs! They’re a good team, they’re well organised and have big name players. It will be tough but the advantage is that we’re playing at home and there will be a big crowd behind us – it’s the first time there has been a game in Vancouver in 15 or 20 years. Hopefully we can put on a good performance for the fans and take the three points, we need to look at winning all of our home games to get as many points on the board and put ourselves in the best position to qualify."
Aird made his first appearance for the Canadian senior team back in September as a substitute in a friendly against Ghana and he was also used in a full-back role for his country, after being converted from a winger under Mark Warburton this season. The academy graduate said: "Playing at international level is one of the biggest experiences a player could have in his career and I got a bit of a taste for it last month so let’s hope I can be involved in games coming up. It’s up to the manager but I came into the camp last time as a right-back and got my first cap there so I’m not sure if that is where the manager sees me going forward or if it is just for now. Whatever position I get told I am playing I will go and give it 100% and do my best for the team and the country."