Born and raised in Aberdeen, Nikki Walker inevitably formed an allegiance with his local team that lives on to this day.

As recently as at the start of this season, the 26-year-old Ospreys winger was back at Pittodrie as a supporter, albeit a defeat to Inverness Caley - who did not even exist when he was a youngster watching Aberdeen FC win silverware at the end of their golden era in the eighties - was disappointing.

Brought into the national side for tomorrow's meeting with Canada to try to end the scoring drought that has affected Scotland's backs on home soil in 2008, Walker readily admits his ambitions lay elsewhere during his time as a primary school pupil in the Granite City before he moved to Hawick as a 12-year-old.

"When I was younger, football was first. Obviously, coming from Aberdeen, rugby's not as big as it was in the Borders, so I was massively into my football and I did look up to Aberdeen footballers more than Scottish rugby players,"

he said.

"In my days, it was Scott Booth and Eoin Jess. Hans Gilhaus was the superstar."

Perhaps another Dutchman would have been a better role model since Willem van der Ark, whose goals helped bring two cups to Pittodrie in 1989/90, had rather more in common with Walker physiologically than those nimble little men.

An awkward big striker, he did not mind putting himself about and Walker can identify with that too.

"It's going to be a smaller pitch than Murrayfield, but I don't think that'll trouble us," said the 6ft 4in, 16st-plus winger.

"I'm certainly not too fussed about it. If it's a wide pitch I'm happy enough to try to go round boys because I've got the speed, but I'm obviously physical enough to go through teams as well, so I'm just pretty happy."

To date, Walker has just two tries to his name in 14 Tests spread across six years, one of which was contentious when he was deemed to have scored in the famous win over South Africa in 2002.

Yet he is confident that, no Scottish back having scored at home in a Test since September last year, he can be the man to improve things.

"I've been pretty happy with the way I've been playing at the Ospreys so I've just been incredibly frustrated not to be playing in the first two games," he said. "I felt I'd been playing well enough, but obviously other boys have been playing well.

"Thom Evans has been on fire for Glasgow and obviously Sean Lamont's a really good player too.

So I've just had to take it on the chin and really work hard in training.

"I'm looking to prove a point and prove I should have been playing in the first two games. Obviously, we're struggling to score tries and that's what I've been doing for the Ospreys, so hopefully, I can do that at the weekend."

For all that the size of the pitch is restrictive, his recent experience with Scotland A, claiming one of their 11 tries in last week's win over Georgia at another football ground, ought to help, while the Pittodrie factor must only be helpful to someone for whom the place is so special.

"I've maybe grown out of it a little bit, but when you're young you think Pittodrie is like the best stadium in the world because it's your team," he said.

"Obviously, when it's a 20,000 stadium and you go on to play in 60,000 or 80,000 stadium you realise it's not as big as you thought it was, but, obviously, I still aspire to play there and I'm thoroughly looking forward to it.

"It's my first time playing there. It's one I've had my eye on for a while since I heard it was there and it will make it a bit more special with so many relatives in the crowd as well.

"Hopefully, it will be a full house and they'll create a really good atmosphere up there.

"When you don't get a full stadium it's not as good, so if they can fill it at the weekend it'll be electric."