Hendry left disappointed despite return to Scotland fold

Jack Hendry returned to Scotland action after three years but his overriding emotion was of disappointment after a 2-2 Hampden draw with Austria.

Hendry was recalled after rejuvenating his career on loan with Oostende in Belgium and was part of a spirited Scotland display which saw them twice come from behind.

The centre-back was the nearest defender to Sasa Kalajdzic when the Austria forward both netted on the rebound and headed home and when asked for his overall assessment, he replied: “Disappointing. I thought we might have deserved to win. It was two disappointing goals to concede but at the same time we scored two very good goals against a very good side.

“Austria are a top team so to come away with a draw is not the worst result in the world.

“It shows a lot about the group mentality to come back twice against a side like that. We just have to try and take the positives and hopefully build on that against Israel.

“Austria are a very good side and we have shown we can compete at that level. We can definitely believe in ourselves and really kick on now.”

Hendry’s return following three caps in 2018 looked an unlikely scenario after struggling to get in the Celtic side and then suffering an injury on loan at Melbourne City.

But he has gone from strength to strength in Belgium after a difficult 18 months.

“I’m delighted to be back in the fold,” he said. “It’s a great learning curve again and I just need to learn from the game and take it forward in my career. But it was good to be back out there with a Scotland top on again.”