Grant & rave
Scotland told to bring back Hanley with McKenna and Souttar crocked
GRANT HANLEY has been backed to answer the Scotland SOS after boss Steve Clarke’s Euro play-off preparations were thrown into crisis.
The national manager already had plenty to ponder ahead of the Hampden showdown with Israel later this month before the injury woe suffered by centre-backs Scott McKenna and John Souttar.
Clarke hasn’t been blessed with an abundance of options for the roles and his choices have been radically reduced with the Dons star suffering a hamstring tweak in the Scottish Cup win at St Mirren and Hearts ace Souttar exiting their victory against Rangers on a stretcher after snapping his achilles.
Charlie Mulgrew hasn’t featured for Blackburn since December and Mikey Devlin hasn’t been a regular at Pittodrie, leaving Motherwell’s Declan Gallagher one of the last men standing, along with Leeds United’s Liam Cooper, Stuart Findlay at Kilmarnock and Hearts’ Craig Halkett.
But former Scotland cap and Carrow Road legend
Bryan Gunn has been keeping tabs on Hanley’s displays with his beloved Norwich and is convinced he can be the man to help keep out Israel and help fire Scotland closer to the Euros.
Hanley got the last of his 29 caps in the 1-0 friendly defeat by Costa Rica two years ago but has spent a lot of that time on the treatment table.
But the 28-year-old has battled back to fitness this term to become a mainstay under boss Daniel Farke and the Canaries captain has been leading the fight to beat the drop.
Ex-Aberdeen No.1 Gunn said: “I see Grant as a reliable centre-back, as a former goalkeeper he’s the kind of guy you want in front of you.
“He’s adapted seamlessly to the style of play Farke likes, with passing out from the back but he’s an oldfashioned, no-nonsense centre-half.
“The most important thing for a defender remains keeping the ball out of the net and that’s always at the forefront of Grant’s mind.
“He’s got a lot of experience and is up against the best strikers in the world every week. He was superb against Leicester the other day and in the defeat by Liverpool when Norwich were unlucky with VAR.
“He’s got the mentality Scotland will need this month as well. But he’s also big and brave – he’ll take one for the team.” Gunn has no fears over Hanley but it’s more about hope when it comes to Scotland’s chances of getting through Israel and then either Serbia or Norway.
He added: “It’s a big opportunity, perhaps the best we’ve had for some time. Steve will have the squad well briefed and he’ll give us every chance to go through.”
He’s got the mentality we’ll need this month, he’ll take one for the team
BRYAN GUNN