Grant Hanley admits Scotland Euro 2024 clock is ticking as Norwich captain makes injury call

Grant Hanley admits the clock is ticking on his bid to make to a second Euros with Scotland this summer. But the Norwich City defender hopes taking a step back for club can catapult him two forward when it comes to realising his dream in the summer.

Hanley has only made nine appearances for the Canaries this season after returning from a serious Achilles injury in December. And the 32-year-old took himself back out of contention for the Championship side last month to focus on getting his body back close to 100 per cent through a personal fitness programme. Now with just four games of the regular season remaining for promotion chasing Norwich, Hanley hopes his decision can pay off for club and country. He said: “I know that time is not on my side but what wasn’t going to be on my side either was playing and not performing or not being able to perform because physically I wasn’t where I needed to be.

“Football is a funny thing and can change quickly for better or for worse. So I just have to back myself and trust this is the right decision. It might sound a bit cliche, but you've got to be playing at your club, and you’ve got to be playing well.

"I've not got much time to do that, but hopefully I can get back involved before the end of the season. Hopefully I can get involved with the play-offs and let's see what happens.

"The decision was ‘do I carry on not being able to perform, or do I take a step back and improve physically?’

Hanley, who has 48 caps, was one of Scotland’s top performers at the last Euros. But with limited crowds due to Covid taking the sparkle off that experience the former Blackburn and Newcastle defender is desperate to make it onto the plane as part of Steve Clarke's squad for Germany.

He told BBC Radio Norfolk: "I've experienced a major competition before with Scotland and the downside to that one was it was during Covid when the stadium capacities were majorly reduced.

"It was still an unbelievable experience, probably one of the best experiences of my career. But this one's proper, playing the hosts in the opening game in Munich. So obviously that would be an unbelievable thing to be involved in."