Dom Hyam has spoken of his disappointment at being left out of Scotland’s first squad under new head coach Sebastien Pocognoli, while insisting he remains hopeful of earning a way back into the set-up.
Pocognoli, the 39-year-old Belgian, signed a two-year contract to take charge of Scotland in August, following the departure of Steve Clarke after the 2026 World Cup. Hyam was part of Clarke’s squad for the summer showpiece but did not feature, sitting as an unused substitute for the Scots’ group stage matches against Haiti, Morocco and Brazil.
The Wrexham defender, who has won four senior Scotland caps, was not included in Pocognoli’s 28-man squad for the opening block of Nations League fixtures, a run that includes a double header with Slovenia as well as matches against Switzerland and North Macedonia.
“It is a little bit tough. There’s a bit of change in the set-up with the new manager,” Hyam said. “But my immediate reaction was disappointment, I can’t lie. Hopefully there’ll be more opportunities to come in the future.
“Like I’ve said all along, it’s all about how I perform on the pitch for my club and hopefully I can get in in the future.”
Asked whether he had spoken to Pocognoli since the former Belgium left-back was appointed just over a month earlier, Hyam replied: “Not with the new manager personally, no. But I’m still open and I’ve just got to focus on myself.”
Hyam’s focus has been trained on club matters, where he is captain of Wrexham and has featured in each of the Championship side’s eight matches across all competitions so far this season. As a key member of the club’s leadership group, he was one of the players manager Phil Parkinson turned to in the aftermath of the Red Dragons’ 6-0 defeat to West Ham United.
That loss was the heaviest of Parkinson’s tenure since he was appointed Wrexham manager in the summer of 2021, and the club’s heaviest league defeat since a loss by the same scoreline to Bournemouth 22 years ago.
“He spoke to myself and Matty James after the game,” Hyam said of Parkinson. “He just wanted our opinions on how we move forward from the last game and into the next one. I felt it was very important that we addressed it, but we’ve quickly drawn a line underneath it.
“We spoke about what we didn’t do so well, and then all the focus was clearly next on Southampton. I’m sure there’ll be another few times in my career where there’ll be a terrible scoreline, but that’s just the way football goes. It’s just about how we react.”
Wrexham will look to respond when they host Southampton at the Racecourse Ground on Saturday (15:00 BST). Parkinson’s side currently sit 19th, having collected seven of the 21 points on offer so far this season, while Southampton are ninth on 10 points despite being docked four points before the campaign as a result of the Spygate scandal.