Jack Hendry made his loan move to Oostende permanent after the Belgian club took up on the offer to buy the Scotland international. Despite just transferring at the start of the summer window to Oostende, by the time the window slammed shut he was wearing the blue and black of Club Brugge.
Club Brugge was drawn in Group A, alongside Man City, PSG and RB Leipzig. Deemed not good enough by Brendan Rodgers and Neil Lennon, the 26-year-old will now face a front three of Mbappe, Messi and Neymar on Wednesday night.
“It’s just about turning negatives into positives and not getting too low.
“It’s very difficult and at stages of my career I’ve thought: ‘Is this the right road you want to go down?’”
He told Radio Scotland, quoted by Glasgow Live.
“But you’ve got to just lean on the right people at the right times and back yourselves and I think the main thing is to keep believing in your ability because when you lose that it’s a situation which isn’t good and you might go down the wrong path.
“For me it’s just to keep repeating to myself I can do it, my time will come, working hard and I’ve got the ability to get me there.”
He continued;
“It’s just repetition to keep going over and believing in my ability. Whether that’s looking back at certain games you play well or certain things you’ve done well throughout your career and leaning on the right people at the right times is really good for you.
“If you get good people around you it puts you in a good place. You’ve got to go out and do it and I felt the stage I created last year was a good environment for me and the right set up where I could go and express myself.
“I always thought if I get someone who backs me and gives me that opportunity I’ll repay it and that’ll hopefully be the case at Club Brugge.
“It’s starting to show at international level as well and hopefully I can make that position my own in the Scotland set up and keep on pushing and see how far I can go.
Talking about his “lost years’;
“I’m getting to an age now where I’m starting to gain a bit of experience. I’ve lost out on a few years but hopefully I can make up for that now with nights like Wednesday.”
Due to his impressive performances of late, Jack Hendry found himself representing his country at the Euros, something unthinkable just twelve months ago. Hendry started Scotland’s loss against the Czech Republic.
Credit should be given where credit is due to Jack Hendry, despite major setbacks in his playing career he has managed to turn his career around and is now entering his prime years in good form.
