How linking up with Rangers man would recall "another lifetime" for Scotland defender

A Scotland career can be an awful long time in the gestation.

Dom Hyam maintains that the prospect of facing Erling Haaland when Scotland take on Norway next Saturday is "nothing to worry about" but the sort of test any defender should relish. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

No-one needs tell Dom Hyam that. Having earned his first senior call-up in March, the Blackburn Rovers centre-back will come into contention for a senior debut as Steve Clarke’s men are hosted by Norway in a pivotal Euro 2024 qualifier next weekend. The injury loss of Grant Hanley and Scott McKenna, and recent limited playing time for Jack Hendty and Liam Cooper, may also strengthen the claims of Rangers John Souttar. In common with Hyam - Rovers only missing out on the Championship play-off in the closing afternoon of the regular season - the Ibrox defender finished his club campaign strongly. The 27-year-old Hyam admits the possibility of wearing the dark blue alongside Souttar would be a real blast from the past.

The pair first did so all the way back in May 2014, when Scotland under-19s travelled to England to compete in their age group European Championship finals. “That feels like a bit of a lifetime ago now,” said the player of a tournament that led to the young Scots coming up short in a group that contained the hosts, Montenegro and Ukraine. The latter nation also providing the opposition when they played their solitary under-21 outing together two years later. “It was me and John Souttar for those three under-19 games nine years ago, so while it does feel like a lifetime ago, it’s good to have that sort of familiarity there. I’d like to think we gelled pretty well, we got some good results [at that level]. I’m sure he remembers it a little bit better than me, but we had some good times and it’s been good to see some old faces.”

Hyam confesses he had hoped to make the senior set-up before he was able to watch from the bench as Clarke’s men produced an “electric” display to slay Spain 2-0 at Hampden in a win for the ages. And the ultimate follow-up to opening their qualification campaign with a home win over Cyprus. He believes he has shown he can “cope” at this level but doesn’t deny that will be tested should he be tasked with shackling the goalscoring phenomenon that his Erling Haaland, whose astonishing penalty box rampages allowed him to batter past the half century of goals for Manchester City this season. Hyam has experienced contrasting fortunes in confronting seemingly unstoppable finishers in the past, in the shape of Ivan Toney and Aleksandar Mitrovic, but recognises Haaland is in a league of his own.

“Wnen I was first in the Championship with Coventry, Ivan Toney scored a bucketload of goals. He was tough, he was really good,” the defender said. “Then, a couple of years ago Mitrovic got about double that… So, some quality strikers there. I think Toney scored four goals in two games against me but I – well, we – actually shut Mitrovic out. I think he got 43 goals but didn’t score against us in the two games. So I’ve known both sides of it [against those type of players]. But Haaland would be a different level, really. I would absolutely relish going up against him. You want to test yourself against the best, and if you don’t, you are probably in the wrong sport. We know he’s a quality player, but it’s nothing to worry about, it’s something to relish.”