HANLEY’S FOCUS IS NOW ON THE EUROS

Scotland’s World Cup playoff defeat to Ukraine has done nothing to dampen Grant Hanley’s belief his side can be in the mix for more major tournaments.

The Scots were defeated 3-1 by Ukraine in an off-colour performance at Hampden Park on Wednesday.

The failure to reach the finals in Qatar later this year puts paid to manager Steve Clarke’s hopes of leading Scotland to backto-back tournaments.

Scotland will now begin their efforts to reach the Euro 2024 finals in Germany, with their Nations League campaign starting at home to Armenia on Wednesday.

Defender Hanley feels his side remains on the right track.

He said: “We’ve got a squad in the dressing room capable of qualifying for major tournaments.

“We’ll let this one sink in, dust ourselves down and we’ll go again.

“Obviously the World Cup has gone but the next one is the Euros, so that will be our focus. We’re professionals so it’s up to us to recover from this and be ready again for the next game, which we will be.”

Although Ukraine were impressive in their victory, Hanley felt the Scots equally fell short of the level required on the night.

He added: “We’re disappointed we never really got going in the game until a wee bit of a spell later on.

“It’s football and that happens and at this level especially – but any level – if you don’t really turn up and don’t have one of your good nights then you’re going to struggle.

“It felt like that’s what happened to us on Wednesday night. We never got it right, we weren’t quite at it for whatever reason. That’s the reason the game went the way it did.”

The play-off disappointment compounded a disappointing season for Hanley, who suffered relegation from the English Premier League with Norwich City.

The 30-year-old dismissed any suggestion the difficult campaign had caught up with him and his team-mates, adding: “They don’t quite compare. It’s football and disappointments happen.

“You go with the highs and the lows and that’s football.”