HITTING THE ROAD HAS HELPED PUT HENDRY ON THE MAP, SAYS MANAGER

STEVE CLARKE reckons Jack Hendry’s wanderlust has been the key to unlocking his potential as an internationalclass defender.

Now, having secured a lucrative move to Saudi Arabia, the Scotland boss expects the 28-year-old to star in a league that threatens to overturn the game’s established order.

Having stagnated at Celtic, Hendry moved to Belgium in a loan transfer to KV Oostende, where he impressed enough to earn a permanent deal and quick-fire move to Club Brugge.

There, he garnered Champions League experience and established himself as a Scotland international, embarking on another left-field loan with Italians Cremonese along the way.

‘Jack is in a good place,’ said the Scotland boss. ‘Certainly his performances for Scotland have been very good and he has shown that he has been prepared to travel around Europe, and now the world, in search of first-team football.

‘I think he has improved a lot by moving around. He is a confident boy, Jack. Any time I have put him in the team, he has never let us down. Hopefully that continues in the future.

‘I think it will be a good move for Jack, a good level for him. It will improve him as a player and hopefully we see that on the pitch with Scotland.’

Prior to hooking up with Steven Gerrard and his old Celtic team-mate Moussa Dembele, Hendry placed a telephone call to Clarke to garner his thoughts.

‘I spoke to Jack and I was not going to say: “I am not going to pick you because you are going to Saudi”. He is going there with a lot of top-quality players. Saudi Arabia were at the last World Cup and they beat the eventual winners in the group stage, so there are talented players out there.

‘It is difficult for me to sit there and gauge what that level is just now. But I am pretty sure it is a good level and it will be interesting to see how it pans out in the future.’

Joking that he’d need to check if the Scottish FA’s expense account would stretch to a visit to the Middle East, Clarke welcomes the emerging trend among his squad for trying new environments.

‘I have to go to San Sebastian, Bologna and now Saudi,’ he laughed. ‘No, I think it’s good that the boys are starting to branch out a bit.

‘Kieran (Tierney) is going to Spain, Jack has been to Belgium, been in Italy, and Lewis (Ferguson) scored again away to Juventus and played very well last weekend.

‘Josh Doig is out there too, so it is great to see the boys jumping around and pushing the boundaries. The life experience they are getting is fantastic too.’