Hibs defender Grant Hanley is proud to have been named in Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad for their crucial World Cup qualifiers with Greece and Denmark, with a place at the 2026 World Cup firmly within reach.
Scotland need to avoid defeat in Greece tonight (Saturday 15 November) to set up a bumper winner takes all clash with Denmark on Tuesday (18 November) at Hampden Park.
Speaking to Hibs TV, Hanley insists the squad are capable of getting two positive results after picking up 10 points from their first four qualification matches.
He said: “Every time you go away with your country, it’s an honour and it’s something I’m really proud of.
“We’ve got a couple of big, really important games coming up, so I’m looking forward to it.”
“It always gives you a bit of confidence having picked up a couple of positive results against them before, but the reality is it doesn’t really stand for anything – we’ve got to go and prove that again.
“We know how difficult it is going away to Greece, and we know how much quality Denmark has and how much quality both sides have. We have no illusions about how difficult it’s going to be.
“But we’ve put ourselves in a good position and given ourselves a platform to go and achieve something really special.”
The 33-year-old joined Hibs in the summer and had to bide his time before breaking into the starting XI. Since doing so, the veteran defender has kicked on, starting the last seven consecutive league matches – whilst also featuring regularly for Scotland.
“Switching between club football and international football is something I’ve done pretty regularly over the years. As players, you want to be playing games as much as possible.
“Managers might love to get you on the training pitch more, but players never complain about playing. We just want to keep going and keep playing as much as we can.
“Coming here, my first aim was to try and impress, get myself into the team, and play as much as I could. Off the back of that, the target was to stay in the national team, and thankfully I’ve done that. Ultimately, it’s come from playing regularly at Hibs and performing at a good level.”
