Danny Higginbotham ranks his international debut for Gibraltar as the proudest moment of his career.

Chester FC defender Higginbotham, 34, was man of the match as the newest member of Uefa drew 0-0 with Slovakia in the Algarve.

The match was the first full international Gibraltar have played.

“In terms of pride, it has got to be number one,” said Higginbotham, who has played almost 400 league games in a long and distinguished career.

“There were some memorable games with Derby, Sunderland and Stoke, like going to Old Trafford or Anfield and getting a result, but this was completely different. There is no comparison.”

Higginbotham qualifies for Gibraltar through his grandmother. His uncle Allen Bula manages the national team, the majority of whom are amateurs drawn from the domestic league.

“I flew out to Portugal on Sunday after the Luton game and met up with the squad,” said Higginbotham.

“I got a real shock because the whole set-up was so professional. They left no stone unturned.”

Manchester-born Higginbotham narrowly missed out on an England Under 21 call-up earlier in his career and had all but given up on playing international football.

But he won his first cap on Tuesday when he lined up at centre half against Slovakia, ranked 27th in Europe.

“There were a lot of nerves before kick off but once the game started, the lads settled down and they were brilliant,” said Higginbotham.

“It was very emotional after the game and there were a lot of tears. The lads who have been involved for a while have had to go through a lot of barriers. The emotion really came out.”

With a blossoming media career, Higginbotham has previously said he is not sure how long he will carry on playing.

But with Gibraltar hosting friendlies against Estonia and the Faroe Islands in March, he hopes to add to his first cap.

“One of the games is on a Saturday so that could be difficult but I definitely want to be involved,” he said.

“We wanted to keep things tight against Slovakia and to frustrate them, and we had a couple of chances to sneak the game near the end.

“People woke up the day after the game and have taken notice of the result.

“I have got a lot of thinking to do about the future but having tasted international football, if anything was going to make me prolong my playing career than this would be it.”