Scotland defender Jack Hendry hopes he is back in the national team to stay following his recall for Thursday’s 2-2 draw against Austria.
Hendry made his first international appearance since a 3-1 friendly loss to Portugal at Hampden Park in October 2018, earning his fourth cap in the World Cup qualifier.
Having found himself out of the picture at parent club Celtic, a successful loan stint with Belgian outfit KV Oostende this season was the catalyst for the 25-year-old’s recall by Scots boss Steve Clarke.
After partnering Grant Hanley and Kieran Tierney in a three-man backline, Hendry is hoping to build on his display against Austria as he looks to retain his place for tomorrow’s game against Israel in Tel Aviv.
Hendry said: “I’m delighted to be back in the fold. It was a great learning curve for me on Thursday.
“I just need to learn from everything from the game and take it forward in my career.
“It’s good to be back out there with the Scotland top on again, so hopefully I will just build on it.”
Scotland had twice trailed against an impressive Austria side, but salvaged a point thanks to John McGinn’s sublime overhead kick five minutes from time.
Hendry was impressed by the quality of the their opponents, who are ranked 23rd in the world, but he took encouragement from the way the Scots acquitted themselves in the face of adversity.
Former Dundee defender Hendry added: “Austria are a very good side, but I think we showed we can compete at that level.
“We definitely believe in ourselves that we can really kick on now. We’ve just got to build on the next couple of games and see where it takes us.
“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.
“I think it shows a lot about the group mentality to come back twice against a side like that. It shows a lot about us.
“We’ve just got to try and take the positives out of the game and hopefully build on it against Israel.”