Forgotten £17m Scotland star ends 489-day wait and emerges as option for Greece double-header

The Scottish star has been out of action for a total of 489 days due to injury, but marked a significant milestone in his comeback from a hamstring problem by playing the first 45 minutes of Brentford B’s game against Birmingham City academy, starting the game in his familiar right-back role.

A £17million signing for Thomas Frank’s side in the summer of 2022, Hickey marked his return to action by scoring the opening goal of the game, firing a left-footed effort beyond the Birmingham goalkeeper from the edge of the area to hand his side the lead after 19 minutes.

Hickey’s long-awaited return to action is sure to be a relief for both himself and Scotland boss Clarke, with the 22-year-old defender enduring a torrid spell on the sidelines. The ex-Hearts academy star was forced to miss the last 16 months with a severe hamstring injury that he first required surgery in October 2023.

Originally he was only expected to miss only months with the problem, but suffered a major a setback just weeks into his recovery, and was forced to undergo a second surgery to repair the tendon in his hamstring in August 2024. The lengthy recovery process saw him ruled out of Scotland’s squad for last summer European Championship in Germany, and the entirety of Brentford’s current campaign.

The English Premier League club confirmed the ex-Hearts ace had ‘partially’ returned to training at the Gtech Community Stadium earlier this month, marking a significant step towards his long-awaited comeback to playing action. He has since been fully integrated into first team training before being named in today’s starting XI for the club’s B team.

One of Scotland’s highest rated young stars, Hickey last appeared for the Tartan Army back in October 2023, starting the 2-0 UEFA European Championship qualifying defeat to Spain in Seville, as goals from Alvaro Morata and Oihan Sancet sealed a win for the would-be European champions.

There was also further good news for the Scotland camp today, with hopes that Rangers defender John Souttar will be fit for next month’s double-header against Greece in the Nations League playoff boosted after he was spotted back in the training for Barry Ferguson’s side.