Scotland praying for Kieran Tierney miracle as Jack Hendry pinning hopes on scan for Euro 2024 reprieve

Jack Hendry has revealed how Scotland’s stars were praying for a miracle as devastated Kieran Tierney waits to discover if his Euros are over.

Defensive stalwart Tierney had to be carried off the pitch in Cologne on Wednesday in obvious distress after appearing to damage a hamstring in a desperate attempt to prevent Switzerland from knocking Steve Clarke’s side out of the tournament. The manager has already ruled Tierney out of playing any part in the win or bust Group A showdown with Hungary on Sunday, the outcome of which will determine if history is to be made here in Germany this summer.

But Hendry insisted yesterday that Tierney has not yet given up hope of playing some part in the knock-out stages - and that his team mates are refusing to accept that his time in camp is almost definitely up. Hendry said: “I feel for KT obviously, it is never nice to see your teammates go down injured and as soon as it happened after the game all the boys rallied around him and tried to say as many positive things as possible.

“Hopefully, fingers crossed, when he gets his scan it is not as bad as what he thinks. It is not good. It is never nice to see a fellow professional get injured but fingers crossed he is OK. You never know. Obviously I am not an expert. KT is not an expert.

“It’ll be 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.”

It was Hendry’s stray pass which forced Tierney into drastic action as he attempted to rush back and shut down Swiss danger man Dan Ndoye with the teams locked at 1-1. And Hendry went on: “It was a night that obviously involved a lot of high intensity runs with their wingers, who were quite direct and got in behind us. It was probably a game plan.

“We were quite aggressive in the way we played and they obviously played down the flanks and both wingers were very fast. It was a game that had many tough duels in it from a defensive point of view but KT stood up very strong - every single one of them did - and unfortunately that happened in that incident.”

This latest set-back comes after injuries ruled Aaron Hickey, Nathan Patterson, Lewis Ferguson and Lyndon Dykes out of Clarke’s original squad. Ryan Porteous will also not kick another ball in Group A after being red carded in the opener against Germany and now Tierney may have to leave the squad’s Bavarian base camp if the damage done needs specialist attention back home.

But Hendry says the spirit among the group is unbreakable as they set their sights on facing Hungary. He said: “It just says a lot about the group. Obviously in bad times or good times you stick together and that says a lot about the make-up of this squad.

“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.”

And Hendry has also been helping former Parkhead team mate Anthony Ralston get over a difficult first two tournament games - including the howler which set up the Swiss equaliser. He said: “For Tony, look, mistakes happen in football. I have made many of them. All other 21 players who were on the field have made lots of mistakes. It is how you react from them.

“Obviously, Tony reacted in a first class way. To be in that arena and that environment and make a slight mistake that leads to a goal, it says a lot about Tony’s character the way he then performed afterwards.

“He should be proud and not let it affect him. In a way it should give him more confidence that he can have those kind of setbacks and still stand back up. Fair play to him, it is quite an intimidating arena. And I thought he did really well after it. “