SCOTLAND manager Steve Clarke has admitted he was buoyed by seeing Jack Hendry shine for Club Brugge in their Champions League draw with Paris Saint-Germain this month and expressed hope the centre half can reproduce his club form for his country.

Hendry helped the Belgian champions, who he joined in a £6m deal from KV Oostende just before the last international break, to record a 1-1 draw against star-studded French rivals who fielded Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi.

The 26-year-old also played as the Flemish outfit defeated RB Leipzig 2-1 in Germany last night to jump above Manchester City in the Group A table.

Clarke is keen to see the defender, who was outstanding in the 1-0 win over Austria in Vienna at the start of September, scale the same heights in the Qatar 2022 qualifiers against Israel and the Faroe Islands next month. 

Asked about Hendry’s performance against PSG after naming his squad for the double header at Hampden yesterday, he said: “I watched it from start to finish on television. It was great to see. 

  “I brought big Jack into the Scotland fold this year because of what I had seen him as a player. I saw him at Dundee when I first came up to Kilmarnock and liked him. He went to Celtic and I was surprised it didn’t work out for him because he has got all the right ingredients to be a top, top centre back. Now, he is starting to show it.

“I think people underestimate the jump when you come into the national squad. I tried him in a couple of games. He did okay. But I wouldn’t say he was on the top of his form. But he has improved every time he has come away with the team. The performance in Austria was his best for us.

“Now he has to build on that. Hopefully his performances for the national team will keep getting better and better.”

Clarke has been impressed with how successfully Henry, who went nearly three years without playing for his country, has resurrected his career and feels he can inspire any young Scottish footballer who is trying to make it as a professional

“Jack went to Australia, got injured and came back and went to Belgium,” he said. “It has been difficult for him. But he never gave in, he kept going. It is a great example to everybody. You can make a move that doesn’t work out. Sometimes it happens in football.

“You have got to dig in and believe in yourself. Jack does, he has got confidence in himself. He has showed everybody what he is capable of.”

Hendry’s central defensive partner Grant Hanley will miss the Group F match against Israel at Hampden on Sunday week through suspension and Clarke confessed not having the Norwich City man is a huge blow.

“Having Grant Hanley beside him helped Jack,” he said. “Grant has done well for us. People talk about players’ use of the ball and they’d say that’s not part of his game. But as he gets more experience - and working with the German coach at Norwich - I think Grant has improved a lot in that department.

“So he will be a big miss for us against Israel. He’s been around the Scotland set-up for a good number of years. But I managed to persuade him to come back into the squad after a little bit of a break. And he’s been great for us. 

“I think on his recent performances everyone has given him enough fair credit. Everyone can see what he gives to us. People forget in the game against Croatia (in Euro 2020) he went off injured and that affected us quite a lot. 

“But when I first spoke to him about coming back he was great. He missed one camp because of injury but I eventually got him back. He’s low maintenance. There’s no airs and graces about Grant. He comes in and does his job - a manager’s dream to be fair. 

“When we talked he just wanted to know he was getting picked. And I was picking him. I brought him in to play. I like his qualities and I think he’s improved us.”