As difficult as it was for the Tartan Army to accept and for the Scotland team to compensate for, the absence of Aaron Hickey from last summer’s European Championships was bitterest of all for the player himself.
Hickey’s career had been on a constant upward trajectory since his stunning breakthrough at Hearts as a 16-year-old, with an impressive and enjoyable spell personally in Bologna earning him a move to the English Premier League with Brentford, where he continued to thrive. Along the way, he became an integral part of his national team, too.
Then, in a game against Chelsea back in October 2023, Hickey suffered a serious and, as it turned out, incredibly complicated hamstring injury that would keep him out of action for around 18 months.
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As it turned out, manager Steve Clarke offered him a seat anyway, as he did with other established squad members who were also ruled out of the tournament through injury, such as Lyndon Dykes. For Hickey though, that would have just been too much to face.
When Scotland next get to a major tournament, and he is hoping it will be next summer at the World Cup, he would much rather be there with his boots on than as part of the travelling Tartan Army.
“It was difficult,” Hickey said.
“I could have gone [to the Euros], I was dying to go, but also, in the back of my head I was thinking it would be really hard to go and not play and be involved, so I just stayed at home and watched the games with my friends supporting the team. Yeah, it was difficult not to be there. It was hard.
“Unfortunately, the results didn't go our way, but it gave us a little taste of what it feels like to play the tournaments, and makes you want to go to the World Cup and do something. Hopefully we can do that."
Hickey is still tentatively feeling his way back into first team action at Brentford, coming off the bench in their first two Premier League matches late on and then getting an hour under his belt from the start of their League Cup win at Bournemouth last midweek.
National team head coach Clarke has already intimated that he will look to manage Hickey’s minutes in the dark blue too over the matches against Denmark and Belarus in this window, but the 23-year-old says he is coming back into the set-up not only in fine physical fettle, but between the ears also.
"I think mentally I'm just a bit stronger, “ he said.
“I can deal with more things. Just mentally, not so much physically. I feel like I'm still the same [physically] but just head strong.
"I think at the start it was hard. And then as it went on, it got a little bit harder, and then I just took a step back and thought, I've got to just deal with this now. Take it day by day, just keep my head positive, and hopefully everything works out.
“Thankfully, I've been called up to the national team, so it's given me good confidence.
“Sometimes in life you have negative thoughts, you can't help it, but you just have to flip that around.
“That's what I did, that's what I said to myself. You just have to stay positive all the time. Your time is going to come, and you'll be back on the pitch, and be enjoying it again."
When that time did eventually arrive, it was everything Hickey had hoped for, and he can only imagine what it will feel like to be out there in the Parken Stadium on Friday night singing the national anthem alongside his teammates once again.
"You think about that day for so long,” he said.
“You're in training with the team when you're coming out as an injury, and when you're coming into it, you just don't think about it. You're back and you're playing, and you're just concentrating on the game.
“But when the whistle goes, you can take a step back and think about what you went through. It was nice to be there with the fans, and out on the pitch.
"It would be a dream come true [to get to the World Cup]. Probably, the best feeling I've ever had, in football. That's all I can say to that, it's just a dream, and hopefully it comes our way.
"It's good watching World Cups when you're young. Every boy wants to watch them, so hopefully Scotland can get that moment."
