FEAT FIRST
Hanlon beat Hibs team-mates to Scots cap but insists they won’t hold it against him
PAUL HANLON was as surprised as anyone to make his Scotland debut in midweek.
But circumstances meant he beat Hibs team-mates Ryan Porteous and Paul McGinn to a first cap.
Hanlon was a late addition to Steve Clarke’s squad for the midweek win over the Czech Republic at Hampden and was thrust into the action for the final 11 minutes as the Scots made it eight games unbeaten.
The 30-year-old admitted he didn’t think his chance would come after his late arrival meant he’d missed much of the tactical work in the build-up. That meant he wasn’t all that nervous – until he actually started to play.
The versatile Hibee said: “I’d missed a lot of the preparation and for that reason I wasn’t too confident about getting on.
“The boys had already done a lot of hard work building up to that game, which I had missed out on.
“By the time I got there, a lot of the training wa s re c ov e r y - b a s e d because of the amount of minutes they had played.
“But I was ready when called upon and grateful to get on. “I probably didn’t think about it enough to be honest. I just thought about getting on but once I was on the pitch, I was thinking, ‘Oh right, I’ve really got a job to do now.’
“The manager wanted me tucking in a bit more rather than playing as an out and out wing back, dealing with crossed balls. I’m just delighted to have been on the pitch and actually contributed.
“Before the game you’d take one
NO CAPS YET Hibs aces McGinn and Porteous minute on the pitch and get my cap but, looking back, I’m delighted to have come on in such a big game and contributed to a great win.”
Team-mate Porteous could probably be forgiven for feeling a bit miffed not to see any action, having been named in the original squad.
But Hanlon insists that was never going to be the case and is in no doubt the 21-year-old’s time will come.
He joked: “I don’t think he’d have put his hand up to play left wing-back anyway!
“No, we knew that there was only one more interval for subs and he said he was delighted I got on.
“He actually said that his disappointment turned to nerves pretty quickly because he wanted me to do really well. That was nice of him.
“But his time is d ef i ni t e l y going to come. He just needs to be patient.”
That sentiment is echoed by boss Jack Ross, who welcomes Porteous back to the squad for today’s trip north to face Ross County.
The Easter Road gaffer said: “I spoke to Steve a few times. I kept asking how Ryan was and he said he was doing well and he was close to being involved.”