'Put things right' – Scotland star demands big reaction to Greece horror show as he targets starring World Cup role
Experienced defender has no plans to stop his Scotland career yet as he admits he's grateful to boss Steve Clarke
Grant Hanley is confident Scotland will recover from their Greek horror show and put things right in the World Cup qualifiers - and he’s determined to play his part.
The knives are sharpening for Steve Clarke and some of the elder members of his squad after Sunday’s woeful 3-0 defeat at Hampden ended in Nations League relegation. But Hanley is eager to play for his country as long as he can and repay the faith shown in him by Clarke.
That means putting himself forward for the truncated World Cup qualifying campaign that begins and ends after the summer with Greece again lying in wait. And the 33-year-old Birmingham defender insists the squad owe it to themselves as much as anyone to make it a success.
He said: “Playing with my country is a privilege and I'll do everything to do that for as long as I can. Everybody in the squad, that's your dream when you're a wee boy and it still is.
“You want to do well for everybody, this is a group that's obviously changed a bit over the years. Staff, players, there's a big quota that's stayed the same, a large number anyway. You want to do it for each other as well as for your country.
“I don't think it (Sunday) would dent confidence. The character this squad has shown and the belief we've shown and how we've bounced back from setbacks before, there's no doubt in my mind that this group of players and the atmosphere it creates will react to that and put things right.”
Hanley was an ever present in the Scotland backline throughout the Nations League campaign despite a severe lack of game time for Birmingham and Norwich this season. Since the last international window in November he’d only started once for Brum in a Football League Trophy win over Stevenage before the Greece double header.
But Clarke stuck by his partnership with John Souttar at the heart of defence and the duo were rock solid in Athens last Thursday before the entire team crumbled at Hampden. That has seen the head coach criticised in some quarters for being too loyal.
But Hanley said: “I’m obviously super grateful to the trust he has shown in me. It would have been easy for me to not even be in the squad or certainly not be a starting player. To get all those minutes in September, October, November as well, I'm really grateful to the manager for that.
“When I look at myself I'm always very honest. And I'm no daft, maybe a wee bit over critical at times. But I know what I can offer and I'm always looking to do better.”
Follow Record Sport on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for all of the up-to-the minute breaking news, video and audio on the SPFL, the Scotland national team and beyond.
You can get all the news you need on our dedicated Rangers and Celtic pages, and sign up to our newsletters to make sure you never miss a beat throughout the season. We're also WhatsApp where we bring all the latest breaking news and transfer gossip directly to you phone. Join our Rangers community here and our Celtic community here.
Tune in to Hotline Live every Sunday to Thursday and have your say on the biggest issues in Scottish football and listen to Record Sport's newest podcast, Game On, every Friday for your sporting fix, all in bitesize chunks.