Grant Hanley dismisses 'ridiculous' comparison as Scotland defender admits 'no excuses' for latest World Cup flop

Grant Hanley insists there were no mitigating factors in Scotland’s miserable display as they saw yet another World Cup qualifying dream end in despair on Wednesday night.

The 3-1 defeat to Ukraine at Hampden means Scotland’s painful exile from the finals stage of international football’s greatest tournament will now extend to at least 28 years.

It was the third failed World Cup qualifying campaign Hanley has been involved in since breaking into the senior squad and the 30-year-old defender did not attempt to disguise the depth of his dismay.

While the play-off semi-final came at the end of a long and gruelling domestic season for many of the Scottish players, Hanley dismissed any notion that played a part in the comprehensive loss to a slick and intensely-motivated Ukrainian side.

“I don’t think we’ll make any excuses like that,” he said. “We’re professionals and we prepare as professionals.

“I certainly won’t be making any excuses personally like that. It is what it is, we didn’t perform to the level we wanted.

“It's very disappointing for us. It’s really hard to speak about it and it’s obviously still quite raw.

“We’re disappointed we never really got going in the game until a wee bit of a spell later on.

“But even then at 2-1, we never really felt like we were building the pressure and really forced them.

“It’s football and that happens and at this level especially – but any level – if you don’t really turn up and don’t have one of your good nights then you’re going to struggle.

“It felt like that’s what happened to us on Wednesday night. We never got it right, we weren’t quite at it for whatever reason. That’s the reason the game went the way it did.”

It was another major blow for Hanley in a season which also saw