Hansson will be glad to see his old Pittodrie pals

FAROE ISLANDS skipper Hallur Hansson is looking forward to being reunited with some familiar faces as he makes his return to Scotland.

The 28-year-old was on the books of Aberdeen as a teenager, making his one and only appearance for the Dons as a half-time substitute in a 2-0 defeat to Kilmarnock at Rugby Park back in November 2010.

But the midfielder has promised there will be nothing friendly about his team’s approach as they look to stun Steve Clarke’s Scots at Hampden tonight and put another major dent in the Tartan Army’s World Cup hopes.

“Of course it’s fun to be back,” he said. “It’s been 10 or 11 years, so a long time.

“Every time there is a draw for a new qualification I always hoped to see Scotland in the group, and now we are here so I’m looking forward to it.

“Of course playing as a youth team player from 16 to 18 I really learned a lot. It was tough, a different mentality to what I was used to and it gave me a lot.

“Our right-back Gilli Rolantsson was there too. We often talk about our times at Aberdeen.

“Andy was in the first team, I was a youth player. I was in the squad 10 or 12 times so I know him, but not that well.

“I played with Ryan Fraser and Ryan Jack in the youth team. Stephen O’Donnell as well. There are a few, some of the other guys who aren’t in the Scotland squad.

“I actually thought we had a really good youth team at the time. Fraser was a couple of years younger but Jack was a really good player. You never know how these things work out.”

Gone are the days when the Faroes were the whipping boys of European football, with Hakan Ericson’s team now just ranked outside the top 100 nations.

Sunday’s defeat to Austria in Vienna was their first in eight competitive fixtures and Hansson now dreams of becoming a hero like the teams of 1999 and 2002 – who pulled off two famous draws against the Scots at home.

“Since the new coach arrived we have worked a lot on the mental part of football but mostly we focus on ourselves and don’t care so much what others say,” added Hansson.

“We’ve had some really good results the last year.”