Jack Hendry: On-loan Celtic defender targeting Champions League with Belgium's answer to Accies

The Euros are looming and Jack Hendry aims to gatecrash the Scotland squad - by helping the Belgian equivalent of Hamilton Academical into the Champions League.

But that's the target on-loan Celtic defender Hendry is chasing with Belgian club KV Oostende, whose startling rise has resuscitated the Scotland cap's career.

Hendry was out of favour at Celtic and down on his luck last summer after a loan move to Melbourne City lasted two games before he suffered a cruciate ligament injury.

"I needed to hit the reset button," he tells BBC Scotland. "Going to Australia was an opportunity to get away from everything, get my confidence back, get back playing. Then I picked up that bad injury.

"When I was out there, coronavirus started and I came back and had a few months to make myself into the best shape possible. I used that time to get one up on people who maybe weren't working as hard.

"Oostende really wanted me. They finished low down the league last season but I felt I could have a good impact. Thankfully it is paying off."

'I'm desperate to play for Scotland again'

Pitching up in Ostend on the Belgian coast was a leap of faith for Hendry. Since starting life in Belgium's bottom tier in 1981 following a merger of the fishing town's two professional clubs, Oostende have never finished higher than fourth in the top flight.

They yo-yoed between divisions until going up in 2013 and staying there. Having finished second bottom of the 16-team table last season, they are currently fourth - just two points adrift of Antwerp, who occupy the second Champions League place - with Hendry a key figure in defence.

"Oostende are like a Hamilton back home - a club that's lower down in the SPFL is comparable," he says. "It's a small, local club with good people around it.

"That shows how big it would be if we got into that Champions League spot and achieved something hugely impressive."

Such an achievement would not go unnoticed across Europe. And Hendry hopes it resonates with Steve Clarke as the Scotland head coach formulates his squad for the Euros this summer.

Having won the last of of his three caps in October 2018 - and with Scotland's 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign kicking off with a triple-header this month - Hendry isn't short of incentives.

"The first time I played for Scotland was my proudest moment and I'm desperate to put on that jersey again," he adds. "All I can do is maintain my standards to give the coach a difficult decision to make.

"Coming to Oostende, I've progressed as a player and person. I've really matured, grown up quite a lot. I'm playing against good opposition and international quality strikers every week.

"Scotland have been playing with the back three and I've been part of the same system system here. Playing in the middle, I can show my pace, power, and ability on the ball. If I was to get that Scotland call-up again it would really suit my style."

'Whichever club I choose, I need to play'

Aside from international matters, Hendry faces a pivotal summer. Oostende are keen to take up the option to make his loan deal permanent, while Burnley, Wolves and Werder Bremen have been credited with an interest in the 25-year-old.

With another year on his Celtic contract, and the prospect of a fresh start in Glasgow with Neil Lennon gone as manager, Hendry is ruling nothing out.

"I'm open to anything that comes my way," he says. "It's vital that wherever I choose next season, I need to play every week to continue my development. If Celtic want to keep me, that's something they would need to make a decision on."

While Hendry has thrived in Belgium, Celtic have imploded back home. Lennon has departed in the wake of the failed bid for a 10th successive title and a new manager is being sought.

"It's frustrating that I was never given the opportunity to show what I could do [under Lennon]," says Hendry. "The way I'm performing, I could have a real good impact and it's not been nice seeing the way the season has panned out for them."

Hendry has sampled life in Australia and Belgium at an age where many Scottish footballers haven't made it beyond the border.

His playing time is complemented by broadening his horizons away from football and the defender and his girlfriend have used their apartment in Bruges - 20 minutes from Ostend - as a base for seeing the sights.

"There's a lot of history in Belgium and Bruges is a lovely city," says Hendry. "I've been to Brussels, been along the coast, it's a great country to explore with all its history.

"You have to make the most of it and experience the culture. It was the same with Australia - I got to see a part of the world I probably wouldn't have otherwise.

"If any Scottish player is considering a move abroad, I'd definitely recommend they go for it. Go and experience something different and take yourself out of your comfort zone."