Dumfries-born defender Grant Hanley will be hoping to start 2022 in a more positive fashion after ending 2021 injured.
The Scotland mainstay will also be hoping to end 2022 in the Middle East with Scotland at the Qatar World Cup this winter.
The Norwich City captain suffered shoulder ligament damage after a tussle with Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo in the middle of December.
Canaries head coach Dean Smith provided an update recently and said: “There’s no fracture with Grant Hanley’s shoulder.
“He’s out for the foreseeable. It’s not dislocated, but he’s got some ligament damage so we’ll have to see on that.”
It was a sour note to end a stellar 2021 for the local lad.
A return to international football, promotion to the English Premier League and playing for Scotland at a major tournament were among the highlights.
The 30-year-old centre back’s banner year started with a 1-0 win over Barnsley giving the Canaries a four point lead at the top of the Championship.
Eleven clean sheets in the next 18 games put him on the radar of Scotland boss Steve Clarke who brought him back into the international setup after a three year hiatus.
He scored on his return to Scotland duty in a 2-2 draw with Austria at Hampden in a World Cup qualifying triple header with Israel and the Faroe Islands.
Hanley would only suffer defeat three times in the second half of the 20/21 season as Norwich ran away with the Championship winning it by six points over Watford.
After the side secured their second promotion in three years Hanley told the Norwich City’s website: “2020/21 was a proud season for myself just to be a part of it.
“It means so much to me and everybody here.”
His summer holidays were cut short as the defender, who had now made himself a mainstay in Clarke’s Scotland side, was selected for the Euros and Scotland’s first appearance at a major tournament in 23 years.
Defeats to the Czech Republic and Croatia bookended the highlight of the tournament – a draw with England at Wembley.
He said: “It’s only after the game you think about it in that way, about how big and important a night it was.
“Before the game it was important not to build the game up too much. But we had to be present in it, turn up and play, and we did that.
“Because Harry Kane was playing centre-forward and I was middle of our back three, that was always going to be the match-up.
“But overall, as a team, we made it really difficult for them. We nullified the amount of chances they had.”
Hanley made four more appearances for the national side in crucial World Cup qualifiers as Scotland reached the play-offs for a spot in Qatar next winter. Scotland take on Ukraine at Hampden on March 24 and should they win that match they will face either Wales or Austria for a World Cup berth.
Scotland boss Steve Clarke said: “I think Grant has always been a good centre-back. “He has grown into his game, he is a more mature player. I have always liked Grant as a player, even as a youngster you could see the qualities that he had.
“In recent games for Scotland I think he has probably been our most consistent player.”
The big centre back will be hoping to return early in the new year to help Norwich City beat the drop back to the Championship.
