Spending two months on the sidelines with an injury during a World Cup year led Grant Hanley to fear that his chance to fulfil a lifelong dream and play for Scotland in the finals in Canada, Mexico and the United States may pass him by.
“I think that's human nature,” said the Hibernian centre-half today during a break from preparations for the warm-up match against Curacao at Hampden on Saturday. “In any walk of life, there’s always doubt in your mind with whatever it is that you are doing.
“In football, every scenario, every situation, isn’t ideal. When you pick up an injury towards the back end of the season, it's not going to be perfect. But you can only deal with what's in front of you and do all you can to be ready. Thankfully, the manager showed a bit of faith in me and has named me in his squad.”
Hanley has been through a lot of highs and lows since he made his international debut in a 3-0 win over Wales in a friendly in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin way back in 2011.
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The former Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United, Norwich City and Birmingham City player once spent three years in the international wilderness and came back and featured in all three group games at both Euro 2020 and Euro 2024.
So the 66-times capped 34-year-old was never, especially not with a World Cup on the horizon, going to be held back by a hamstring strain.
“To be honest, I've never really sat down and thought, ‘This is me at my lowest, or this is the lowest point’,” said Hanley. “But throughout the course of my career, there's more lows than highs, if I’m being honest. It's part and parcel of it. It's up to players as individuals to have that character to go through and keep going.
“I think when you look back, I have had some low moments with Scotland. I've had really low moments with injuries and things like that. But when you get to stages like this, when the World Cup's on the horizon, that's what makes it all worth it.
“That's what makes going through all those difficult periods in your career and your life worth it. Just keep going, really. Get the head down and keep moving forward. It’s just about having that resilience to push through. It's never something that you really think at the time, it's just more something that your character builds over time.”
There are sure to be some difficult moments in the weeks ahead as Scotland take on Haiti, Morocco and Brazil in their Group C matches. There could be nobody better than Hanley for the young players in the Scotland squad, for Findlay Curtis and Ben Gannon-Doak, to look to for inspiration. He will take any adversity that arises in his considerable stride.
But the defender, who was taken off in Hibs’ final William Hill Premiership match against Motherwell as a precautionary measure, feels the strong team spirit that Clarke has successfully fostered during his seven year tenure will prove hugely beneficial in the weeks ahead.
“We have that experience,” he said. “I know there's a lot of boys with a lot of caps in the squad now, that's obviously something that the manager’s consciously built up over time.
“There's a lot of young lads coming in, but straight away they are welcomed to the squad. You see exactly how everybody operates and how everybody behaves in and around the squad. So it's certainly got that.
“They see how all the boys are together. In international football, there are big spaces in between games. But it doesn’t feel like that.”
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He added, “I hadn't even realised that it is 15 years since I made my debut. It really does make you feel old. How am I now compared to 2011? A bit older and more crabbit?
“No, I think probably as a defender, a major part of that is your experience at the time. You've been in every situation possible in terms of on the pitch a million times before, so you sort of pick up as you go.
“The habits of the position are where you need to be at the right time. I think getting older as well, as you pick up injuries and as your body starts to change, you need to change your game a wee bit as well.
“I’m certainly different, certainly a bit more experienced, maybe a wee bit less aggressive on front foot. But I'd like to say, that I'm better for that.”
Hanley was unable to help Scotland to qualify for the knockout rounds at both Euro 2020 and Euro 2024. But the Dumfries-born player feels that he and his team mates will be able to draw on the experience gained at those tournaments as they bid to book a place in the last 32.
“Everybody been in these situations before,” he said. “So when we have our setbacks, or we have games or stages where we're not performing how we really want, we can draw on those experiences and really grow as a group.
“Stepping onto a stage as big as the World Cup, most of the lads in there have done something similar. The Euros are huge, the pressure and the atmosphere around it is massive, but having that in the locker certainly helps.
“It's probably important to mention as well, a lot of lads in that squad now are doing that at Champions League level, Premier League level, all over Europe on a weekly basis. So, in the dressing room there's a lot of lads that have got a lot of experience of playing at the highest level to draw on.
“The players in this squad, as the players in the previous Euros squads were, are more than capable of being successful. So I think that's where our focus will be - trusting what we've got, putting belief in what we've got in the dressing room.
“I don't think it's a secret that we would like to have performed better and progressed further in the last couple of tournaments. Qualifying for them is one thing, but you've got to give a good account of yourself and be as successful as you can be.”
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