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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Ewan Paton

Who is Dominic Hyam? The Blackburn defender keen for Scotland cap

Dominic Hyam today earned his first call-up to the Scotland national team.

Steve Clarke elected to draft the defender into his squad for the country's upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers against Cyprus and Spain.

Both he and Celtic's Anthony Ralston were brought in as late replacements for Jack Hendry, who was forced to withdraw from the squad through injury.

So, while it's an unfortunate situation for Hendry, it's certainly an opportunity for Hyam to shine.

Here's everything you need to know about the potential Scotland debutant.

Who is Dominic Hyam?

Hyam is 27 years old and currently plays for Blackburn Rovers. The centre-back moved to Ewood Park last summer for £1.5million.

He started his career at Reading, but failed to make a first-team appearance for the Royals.

He did gain his first taste of senior football during loan spells with Dagenham and Redbridge, Portsmouth, and Aldershot Town. 

He then moved to Coventry City in 2017 where he made 170 appearances.

Hyam progressed into the Scotland Under-21s, where he won five caps under then-head coach Ricky Sbragia, but has yet to represent the country since.

How does Hyam qualify for Scotland?

Hyam was born in Scotland. The defender is originally from Leuchars, Fife, where his dad Steve was stationed with the RAF.

Hyam only spent the first year of his life in Scotland before moving to England.

Explaining his Scottish heritage after receiving his first call-up to the Under-19s in 2014, Hyam said: "My dad was in the RAF from the age of 16 and used to be based at Leuchars in Fife. My mum was pregnant with me at the time and that's where I was born.

"He was only there for between six months and a year before we moved back down south.

"I've been there ever since, but I feel Scottish. I've got more Scottish than English in me because my dad's mum is from Dundee originally and my mum's dad is from Glasgow. So I'm definitely more Scottish than English.

"At the back of my mind, I've always thought I'd want to play for Scotland. I was never called up by England at any age group. I've just focused on playing for Scotland and that's still the case now."

What type of player is Hyam?

Hyam has impressed greatly for Blackburn this season in his 20 appearances to date.

He's established himself as a key member of the squad at the North West club, as they seek to gain promotion to the Premier League.

It seems clear that Hyam is comfortable taking the ball out of defence and pushing up the field if an opportunity arises. Basically, he's capable of using the ball and passing out from the back. This will be advantageous at international level.

Sbragia once compared him to Jonny Evans. He said: “The first time I saw Dominic was in a youth cup final two years ago between Leeds United and Reading. The strange thing was, on the team sheet, it was only Leeds’ line-up. The Reading team was just numbers so I didn’t know who was playing.

“So I just decided to put notes down next to each Reading player as I was watching. At the end of the game, I had one note next to Dominic’s number: Jonny Evans. He was coming out with the ball, looking very comfortable and relaxed on it. But he could also defend.

“He’s got speed and power so he stuck out. Instead of writing all that down when I’m watching games, sometimes I just try to think of a player. And with Dominic, it was Jonny who came to mind. On that night, he was excellent, they beat Leeds 3-1. He’s a good defender.”

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