Friday 24 March 2017 19:57, UK
Scotland's Ryan Fraser was always destined to play at the top level of football, according to his former Aberdeen team-mate Clark Robertson.
The Bournemouth winger received his first call-up to the Scotland set-up for this week's internationals following a run of glowing form in the Premier League.
He missed out on his debut against Canada on Wednesday night due to a slight hamstring problem but is in contention for a start in Sunday's crucial World Cup Qualifier with Slovenia, live on Sky Sports.
Blackpool defender Robertson, who was at Pittodrie when Fraser broke into at Aberdeen first team at just 16-years-old, says it was only a matter of time before he progressed in the game.
"When Ryan Fraser first broke through I was already in the first team and you could see then that defenders were terrified of his pace, they didn't know how to deal with him.
"I guess you could tell that he was destined to play at a high level and he just needed that chance. And he took a chance moving to Bournemouth when they were in League One and it's paid off for him."
The 23-year-old attacker has scored three goals and made five assists in 19 Premier League appearances so far this season, but his transition from Aberdeen to Bournemouth was not a smooth one.
After shining in the Scottish Premiership at a young age, the Aberdeen-born winger attracted interest from the south of England and eventually moved to Bournemouth having made 22 first-team appearances.
Fraser was scolded by some portions of the Pittodrie support for swapping the top flight in Scotland with League One south of the border and was accused of taking a step back in his career.
"He got slagged off a lot by Aberdeen fans for leaving but he's proving them wrong now," says Robertson.
"I don't think he really reads much into it. He was obviously reading messages on Twitter but the type of guy he is, he's a strong character and he just gets on with it.
"I think that the criticism he received has driven him on to succeed down in England and now the fans are watching him play in the Premier League, so he must have done something right!"
"It's been great to see him in the Premier League, he's been tearing up some very good players there. So I think overall he's definitely deserved his Scotland call-up so I'm delighted for him."
Robertson also made his Aberdeen debut at just 16-years-old and was the subject of a transfer to Blackpool in 2015. Having seen many Scottish-based players fail to make first-team impressions when moving to the English leagues, Robertson is delighted with the way he is developing at the League Two side.
"I'm loving it down here. I think coming down here I knew I had to play games after leaving Aberdeen and I've played almost 90 games in two seasons here at Blackpool in my favourite position at centre-back.
"We're pushing for promotion this season, just a point outside the play-offs just now and that's very much our target.
"You've seen players in the past come down to England and maybe not play as much as they want to and I'd like to think I've done pretty well coming down here.
"To play as many games as I have done in two seasons is pretty pleasing and I just need to kick on now. Hopefully I can do that by getting Blackpool back into League One.
"When we got relegated last season, like any time, our mission was got get straight back up. That was always our main aim, we've been a bit inconsistent but I think now we're on a good run of form, the best in the league, and we just take each game as it come.
"We've got eight big games to play this season and hopefully we can get in the play-offs and push for promotion."
Scotland v Slovenia is Live on Sky Sports 1 & 5 from 7pm on Sunday.
