Scotland's Greece hero won't play against Belarus but pleads with Steve Clarke not to ditch him

Safe to say, 2025 has been a pretty special year for Lewis Ferguson after the tribulations of the previous one.

A cruciate ligament injury suffered while playing for Bologna in April 2024 left the former Aberdeen and Hamilton midfielder sidelined for six months and robbed him of a place in Scotland's European Championship squad last summer.

The way Ferguson has bounced back from this setback to achieve two huge career milestones says everything about the character and determination of this 26-year-old battler.

With Thursday’s World Cup qualifier against Greece at Hampden poised at 1-1 after Kostas Tsimikas' opener for the visitors was quickly cancelled out by Ryan Christie, Ferguson was in the right place at the right time to prod Scotland into the lead on 80 minutes.

It turned out to be a crucial strike with Greece unable to respond as Lyndon Dykes sealed a 3-1 victory in added time that kept Scotland in with a shout of winning Group C and securing automatic qualification for the tournament in USA, Canada and Mexico next summer.

Another big moment for Ferguson family

“It’s every young lad’s dream to score a goal for your country in a big game," Ferguson reflected. “I can say I’ve done that now. I feel like I’ve not scored for ages so it was great to get one.

“It was amazing, I didn’t know too much about it - it just dropped in front of me and my first thought was to just put my foot through it. There were so many bodies so you just want to hit it and thankfully I was able to watch it go into the net.

“My whole family were here, my mum and dad, missus, my little one and my friends. So it was special, it was nice to look up and see their faces.

“My daughter has seen me score for Bologna, but she’s only two-and-a-half so she’s not really bothered by what’s going on! It was a big moment for me and my family, though, and one we’ll all enjoy.”

After earning the majority of his 19 caps off the bench, amid a clamour for him to start games, Ferguson appears to have finally nailed down a place in Steve Clarke's starting XI.

“I have started the last five or six games so I’m really happy with that," he said. “I have been in squads for a long time and had to bide my time because the quality in midfield is really good. But I got my head down, worked hard and listened to the manager.

“I tried to improve every time I came along, I’ve had my chance on the back of that and I just want to do my bit getting the country to a World Cup now."

Major chance to end World Cup wait

Scotland have never featured in a World Cup during Ferguson's lifetime - he was born the year after the nation's last appearance at the finals in France 1998. It has never felt more achievable to end the wait than it does now with Scotland sitting joint top of the group alongside Denmark at the halfway stage with the final qualifier at home to the Danes next month shaping up to be a potential winner-takes-all.

“We know the magnitude of trying to get to a World Cup, it’s absolutely massive," Ferguson added. “I’ve not seen it in my lifetime and the majority of the lads in the dressing-room are the same. It’s something we have only heard about.

“We all know it’s been such a long time and there have been great players in the past who didn’t manage to do it. It would be huge for the whole country and we’re taking the responsibility and pressure of that on.

“We have given our all in the first three games and it will be no different in the last three. The aim is to pick up as many points as possible then see where it takes us."

‘I want to stay with the squad’

Next up for Scotland is a must-win match against Belarus at Hampden on Sunday but Ferguson will not play. A late booking against Greece was his second of the campaign, incurring a one-match ban. Rather than making an early return to Bologna, Ferguson is desperate to remain with the Scotland camp.

“I want to stay with the squad and be part of it with the lads," he explained. “I want to be in around it, we are in this together and I want to help if I can. So I definitely want to stay - it’ll be up to the manager, it will be his decision.

“But I want to stick around, train as normal and still be part of it in the build up to Sunday’s game. We are all desperate to be here and do everything we can for each other.

“Things have changed a lot under the manager, we have a real club feeling where you see the same faces a lot. It’s really consistent every time, everyone knows each other and gets on.

“It’s a great group, everyone is so close and is pulling in the same direction to get us to a World Cup. That’s the kind of spirit that gets you results like the win over Greece.

“When it’s difficult you need to dig in, battle for each other and help each other out. That’s what we did on Thursday and it paid off. It’s obviously disappointing to miss out.

“At the end of the game I was knackered and was looking over to the manager telling him I was tired. But there were no subs left and the ref was telling me that, so he was already on my case.

“I tried to get close to someone and gave away a foul, so ended up with the booking. It’s frustrating but I’m sure we have enough strength in the squad to go and win the game."