Scotland find what has been missing as 'Celtic resilience' comes to the fore at Euros

The Scots had to cope with losing Kieran Tierney to injury just before the hour mark and also gifted the Swiss an equaliser through Shaqiri following Anthony Ralston’s loose pass. But they responded to these setbacks to set up a must-win tie against Hungary in Stuttgart on Sunday.

It brought some relief after Friday's humiliating 5-1 defeat to Germany. Although it is now just one win in 11 matches, they rediscovered an old vibrancy that made victory seem very conceivable. Indeed, Grant Hanley hit the post with a header in the second half that would have seen Scotland take a 2-1 lead.

“From our point of view, we obviously found ourselves last night,” said Hendry. “That is the reason we are at this tournament, with performances like that. Now it is building on that, looking on the next game and hopefully further on in the competition. We found ourselves a bit. We were a bit more aggressive, a bit more on the front foot and we did a bit better on the ball. There are still improvements there to be done and hopefully that will progress us into the tournament.”

Hendry sought to explain the loneliness of a defender who must seek to recover from a goal-costing mistake in the full glare of live television cameras.

Ralston endured an extreme version of this predicament. The right wing-back misplaced a pass and was harshly punished by Shaqiri, who mercilessly sent a shot high into Angus Gunn’s top corner. The equaliser came shortly after Scotland had taken a 13th minute lead through Scott McTominay’s deflected effort.

“There is no getting away from it,” said Hendry. “There are millions of people watching. You have to take the emotions out of it, draw a line under it and forget the way it happened and reset. Thankfully Tony was able to do that. It is not easy. Not a lot of people would be able to do that. There has to be a lot of respect for Tony in that instance. Some people would not know what to do in those circumstances, with millions watching. I thought he reacted really well.”

Like any defender, Hendry can empathise. Manager Brendan Rodgers conceded that the player was pushed too quickly into the first team after a move from Dundee. Hendry was heavily criticised for mistakes made as he sought to make the step up to European competition. It was no surprise that he was among the first to make a beeline for Ralston to offer encouragement in the aftermath of his mistake. He assured him they all had his back.

Hendry referenced Ralston’s “Celtic resilience” as he reflected on his defensive teammate’s strong reaction to the unfortunate error. Hendry and Ralston were briefly teammates at Parkhead and the pair are now combining in defence. Clarke relying on the latter at right wing back after injuries to Aaron Hickey and Nathan Patterson.

Ralston’s recent lack of match practice has sometimes been evident as he seeks to handle some of the best players on the continent. “Obviously I played with Tony for a brief spell with Celtic,” he added. “You wouldn’t be at Celtic if you weren’t a resilient character. Again, Celtic has obviously got its own testimonies with the size and stature of the club. You are going to have setbacks at different parts during games. I am sure Tony has had that at Celtic as well. Yeah, it shows a lot about his character that he was able to continue his game.”

Scotland can now expect to all but certainly qualify for the second stage if they beat Hungary in Stuttgart on Sunday but they have been further depleted due to an injury to Tierney, who suffered a suspected hamstring injury as he stretched to try and put Switzerland striker Dan Ndoye off his stride when he was straight through on goal.

Hendry had to help two defenders on either side of him as they suffered very different forms of anguish. There are now fears that Tierney’s tournament is over. “Obviously I am not an expert. KT is not an expert,” said Hendry. “That is down to the physios and the medical team to look at and assess and as I said, fingers crossed it is not as bad as first feared. It will just be a waiting game to find out the extent.”

Scotland have already lost Lyndon Dykes and Ben Doak from the squad while Hickey, Patterson, Lewis Ferguson and Jacob Brown could not even be considered.

The players are all trying to rally round Tierney, who is expected to leave Arsenal this summer. “Obviously in bad times or good times you stick together and that says a lot about the make-up of this squad,” said Hendry. “If you get setbacks or knocks, someone is there to pick you up and vice versa. It shows a lot about the squad and its togetherness and I think we have obviously been on this run and hopefully that charisma and togetherness can continue.”

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