Jack Hendry has Euro 2020 dream in sights after 'coming back strong' from Celtic woes

Jack Hendry played just three games in 2019-20 but turning out for Scotland at the Euro 2020 finals was among his pre-season goals.

Jack Hendry returned to the Scotland squad for the upcoming triple-header. Picture: SNS

The defender could now play his way into contention after joining up with Steve Clarke's squad ahead of World Cup qualifiers against Austria, Israel and the Faroe Islands.

The former Dundee player made three Scotland appearances in 2018. But 2019 brought just two Celtic appearances, and a loan move to Melbourne City in January 2020 quickly turned sour when he suffered a knee injury two matches in.

Hendry has since rejuvenated his career on loan at Oostende and his Euro 2020 dream is firmly in sight.

He said: "One of my goals at the start of the season was to achieve something like that and hopefully I'm on the right road to do that.

"Coming off a difficult time for myself, I had to back myself to go out and do the business. Thankfully I have been given an opportunity out in Belgium to showcase my talent. I still have a long way to go to reach my full potential but I feel I am on the right course.

"I feel it shows a lot about my mentality, coming back from setbacks, going out to an unknown and coming back strong.

"For me, my biggest achievement in my career so far was pulling on the Scotland jersey, so it's something I am desperate to do again."

Hendry feels he has become a better player and person through coping with major setbacks.

He added: "Coming off the back of Celtic where I wasn't playing so much, had a couple of niggly injuries, maybe thinking I could have been playing and getting that fair crack of the whip. It just didn't pan out at times.

"I tried to go to Australia, just to get away from everything, be in a good environment, get my mojo back, and two weeks out there I did my medial ligament.

"I was thinking 'is this injury going to define my career?' I just thought 'I really need to focus here and come back and show people what I'm made of'.

"I used that time to work on my body, to work mentally, and come back all guns blazing. Thankfully it's paying off.”

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