Ross McCrorie reveals Scotland dream helped fightback from bone injury horror that left his leg disabled

Stuck in a Bristol hotel room and unable to move his left leg Ross McCrorie wondered if he’d kick a ball in the Championship never mind the Euros this season.

The best way the former Aberdeen and Rangers man can describe the agony of the bone infection osteomyelitis is that his leg was disabled. That was only a matter of months ago. The right back had just joined Bristol City in a £2m move from Pittodrie having forced his way into the Scotland squad for the Euro qualifiers against Norway and Georgia. It looked like the season was a write-off.

But remarkably, thanks to an inner drive that saw him walking within five days of his surgery instead of the estimated six weeks, McCrorie now stands on the verge of a spot in the Scotland squad heading to Germany. Not only that but he might very well be thrust in to win his first full cap in the blockbuster curtain raiser against the hosts after the injury curse that threatened to end his Euros dream instead turned it’s nasty gaze on Aaron Hickey and Nathan Patterson.

McCrorie admits even in the depths of his despair he never completely gave up hope of somehow forcing his way into Steve Clarke’s squad. A meaty scar is now the only reminder of a miraculous rehab that saw his entire left side have to be rebuilt.

For the 26-year-old it’s a price worth paying considering the place he found himself in back in August after his big move from Aberdeen. He said: “I was diagnosed with a bone infection, osteomyelitis. I was out for six, seven months. It was a turbulent time, really traumatic. For the first two months it was just excruciating pain. It was a constant stabbing pain and I was just popping pills. I couldn’t move my leg, my left leg was basically disabled. I couldn’t even get my