HEN LAYS SCOTTISH FOUNDS

JACK HENDRY knows defeat is part and parcel of the life of a footballer.

But sometimes the manner of the defeat is simply unacceptable and he carried with him the hurt of the 3-0 beating dished out by Ireland to Steve Clarke’s Scotland in June all through the summer.

That loss, after a World Cup play-off defeat to Ukraine at Hampden 10 days earlier, burst the bubble of a Scotland side that had gone in with such high hopes and Hendry was simply itching to try to right those wrongs at the earliest opportunity.

He and his mates achieved part one of that ambition by playing Ukraine off the pitch in their 3-0 Nations League win.

Now the defender, who won his 18th cap in midweek, is looking to make it a double by atoning for the abysmal performance in the Aviva Stadium tonight.

Hendry (above) said: “I think the boys were desperate to bounce back from the summer. Obviously, it was disappointing to lose against Ukraine.

“So we were due one for the country. We’ve got to continue this now. We’ve got two very important games coming up. We’ve managed to get to the top of the group and it’s in our hands to stay there.

“As a footballer it’s never nice to get beat. But the manner we got beat that day in Dublin wasn’t good.

“I’m sure everyone in that dressing room is motivated. I’m certainly motivated on Saturday to put in a performance that makes the country proud.

“We let them down in Dublin and we don’t want to do that again on Saturday. Thankfully we got a positive result against Ukraine. It’s always good to have that winning environment in the dressing room.

“We go into this game with a lot of confidence. We’ve got really good players and a really good coaching staff.

“It’s always been a really good group. It’s just been finding the key to get us to major tournaments. Performances like the one against Ukraine will help.”