Exclusive:Ex-Scotland captain details ace's 'bitter disappointment' at axe and urges squad not to make World Cup error

Hendry, 60, was the captain when Scotland last qualified for the World Cup. Despite many pundits backing them to win ahead of their final group stage clash against Morocco in St Etienne almost three decades ago, his and his teammates' knockout stage dreams were ended when they lost 3-0.

Now, as the current Scotland squad get ready to head into their group opener against Haiti in the early hours on Sunday morning, Hendry has reminded them that pre-match predictions mean nothing and urged them to ignore the pre-game chatter that has placed them as favourites to win, and told head coach Steve Clarke he must go on the attack in order to give themselves the best chance of the victory.

“We need to be wary of Haiti in general, if I'm being honest,” said Hendry. “Listen, we are, according to the bookies, supposed to be winning that game. But it would be in true Scottish fashion to struggle. So many games in the past, probably the one I did play in in the World Cup in 1998 against Morocco, where we were reasonably fancied, but battered.

“And we should have probably beaten Norway over the 90 minutes, although we were 1-0 down. And Brazil is Brazil. But the Haiti game is huge. If we win that game, with the reconstruction of the World Cup and so many more teams, and the third-place teams being taken into the next round, I think this is as good a chance as we've ever had.”

“We've scored eight goals in two games. I did attend the Scotland-Japan game at home when we lost. The friendlies are difficult, but we've scored goals. That's exciting as well. I do think [Lawrence] Shankland has to start. I've been delighted that he's weighed in with some good goals just now. The lad will have taken a bit of a hit at the end of the domestic season with Hearts under the circumstances. But he was the captain of Hearts. He's now signed for Rangers. Whether he goes into that sort of consideration, it's up to the powers that be. But I would like Shankland to start, and I'm sure he will against Haiti because we need goals.”

While Hendry is adamant that Rangers hitman Shankland must start for the national team this weekend, he confessed he was left a little shocked to see talented teenager Lennon Miller left out of the original 26-man squad list. Viewed as one of the country’s brightest prospects, the ex-Scotland captain opened up on a chat he had with the player’s father, Lee, after he found out he’d be missing the tournament.

“I spoke to Lee Miller [Lennon’s father] the other week,” Hendry told BestBettingSites.co.uk. “I was playing at Aberdeen for the Craig Brown Cup at Cove Rangers, and Lee was in the same team as me. I said to him that Lennon must have been disappointed. I've not really been omitted from any squad, or I've not had that sort of experience.

“If it happens to you, you’d rather it happen to you as young as you can be because you can then rectify that throughout your career. If you're a wee bit older, I would think it would be that much harder because you're running out of chances at the Euros or the World Cup. But that's one example of how disappointing it can be for a player. He was bitterly disappointed about the whole thing.”

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