English defender Jon Guthrie will check out his ancestor’s Edinburgh statue after signing for Livingston while aiming to make his own mark in Scotland.
The former Crewe and Walsall centre-back arrived at the club on Monday and is bidding to build up his sharpness ahead of Saturday’s Betfred Cup tie at Forfar.
The Wiltshire-born player recently had a trial spell with Ipswich, who are managed by former Livi boss Paul Lambert, and the option of a move north emerged after a Portman Road deal failed to materialise.
The 27-year-old said: “My grandad’s Scottish so I have a little bit in me. Someone in my family has a statue in Edinburgh but I don’t know much about it.
“I have been told by my grandma I have to go and take a photo of it so I will have to find it.”
With his family background, Guthrie would qualify to play for Scotland and would not rule out international aspirations if his Livingston career takes off.
“To be honest I haven’t really thought about it but coming up here, you never know.
“Every footballer wants to play at the highest level they can and we all have ambitions so you never know what can happen,” he said.
Guthrie, who played with Livi full-back Nicky Devlin at Walsall, has played most of his career in League One in England and is excited about testing himself in Scotland.
“It’s a completely new challenge in a new league, new country,” he said. “I just can’t wait to get started and see what it’s all about.
“I spoke to Nicky and a few other lads who have come to Scotland and they only had positive things to say.
“I know Mark Gillespie at Motherwell and I know Abdul Osman, who has been up here.
“The Celtic and Rangers games are big draws to come up here but it’s not just them, there are other big teams.
“I met up with Gillespie this week and he only had good things to say about it.”
