Though she only made her first squad in November, Scotland had long been on Miri Taylor's mind.

The former England youth international, who spent high days and holidays in Elgin, wanted to represent the country of her beloved late grandmother's birth.

But she wanted to do it right. So she waited until she "was in the right headspace" to compete at international level.

Since making her debut off the bench in the friendly draw with Ukraine at the end of last year, the Aston Villa midfielder has looked right at home in the heart of Melissa Andreatta's side.

But she's taken quite the journey to get there.

After heading out to the United States for university, Taylor didn't think she was "of a good enough quality to play international football" when she returned and signed for Liverpool three years ago.

"I didn't think I had that footballing maturity I needed to give to a country," the four-cap Scot told BBC Scotland.

"At that time I wasn't that player and felt like I couldn't be that for Scotland. I didn't want to jump in the deep end too early and not feel like I was giving my best.

"I needed to re-evaluate where I was and grow as a player and person."

If the early days of her Scotland career are anything to go by, Taylor has made rapid growth in a relatively short period of time. That sums up her story so far.

Like many, she started of by playing with the boys in Sunday little leagues, much to the disappointment of her mum.

"I absolutely loved it, but my mum was like: 'Oh, I thought you were going to be a dancer'," Taylor said. "But that was never on the cards for me!"

She joined local team Gillingham before spending a year at Charlton Athletic. Then, the big move to Chelsea - and "probably the best youth academy in the country" - came before she was a teenager.

"I got the chance to train with the first-team at like 16,17, which was an unbelievable experience with the likes of Katie Chapman, Millie Bright and Ji So-yun.

"Seeing their standards and professionalism day in, day out, I think really created a mould of what I wanted to be."

Shaped by seven years at Chelsea, she granted her Arsenal-fanatic dad his wish of playing for the Gunners for one year before moving stateside for her scholarship at Hofstra University.

"My dad was like: 'Go on, just for one year'. So I did and I played with strong females like Kim Little - she won't remember me, but I definitely remember her - Alex Scott, strong leaders from a young age who shaped how I wanted to play."

'I realised I ain't got a social life'

But it wasn't all about playing. Conscious of the landscape at the time, Taylor wanted to explore other options while also "offloading the financial burden" of going to university in England.

So a scholarship in New York it was as she studied speech pathology - eventually.

"I started off in English and psychology and then realised I ain't got a social life so I changed," Taylor told of her three-and-a-half year study.

"It was unbelievable, like a really interesting degree and it was just unbelievable to play at university in America and get my education at the same time.

"I didn't feel like England had that like accessibility, that whole package. I needed that move, I wanted that back-up because you never know with football."

She was drafted to Angel City in their inaugural season in the NWSL and it was through her performances there that she earned her move to "the best league in the world" with Liverpool in the WSL.

But it wasn't straightforward on Merseyside. Minutes were limited and confidence was low, then she was loaned out to Aston Villa.

"It just totally changed my perspective," said Taylor, who moved permanently to Villa in July 2024.

"Getting minutes in the WSL, it really boosts your confidence and I feel like that's something I haven't always been very good at having on the pitch.

"But the last couple of years I've definitely got over that and I know myself, my strengths and how I can change the game, dominate the game in ways that suit the team I'm playing with and suit my game as opposed to just creating self-doubt where it's not needed."

Taylor needn't have any doubts about her place in Andreatta's "ambitious" squad. She's fit in seamlessly.

She credits her team-mates - and their "heart-warming, familiar accents" which remind her of her grandma - with that, many of whom she's played with at club level.

Taylor was the little to 6ft 2in Georgia Brown's large in New York, while Jenna Clark was a familiar face from Liverpool. Freya Gregory is an ex-club team-mate, while Kirsty Hanson walks out in front of her on matchday for Villa.

All of them, and everyone else since entering a tightknit camp - "where there's no difference from sitting at dinner or going on to the pitch" - have made the message of making the World Cup in Brazil next year clear to Taylor, if it wasn't already.

"Coming in I knew that was the focus, I knew from the past hurt that was always going to be the drive because we do have a really ambitious bunch," she explained.

"There's no hiding from it. On day-dot everyone was like: 'This is the goal'. I feel like that brings a good level of collectiveness.

"No-one is going in half-hearted, there's no 'what we are we searching for'. There's a driven goal, we've got our North Star and everyone's on the same train, which helps drive our focus as well as our ambition."