BLACKBURN Rovers captain Grant Hanley believes missing out on one of the biggest games of his career has proved to be a blessing in disguise.

Hanley worked against the clock to be fit for Scotland’s huge Euro 2016 qualifier against Republic of Ireland in June after sitting out the final two months of the season.

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And the centre-back got himself in enough shape to feature for Rovers’ Under-21s team before the campaign was out.

But it was decided that Hanley would miss the Dublin showdown in order to concentrate on fully recovering from the injuries that plagued him throughout the 2014-15 season.

And, ahead of Scotland’s crucial qualifying double header away to Georgia today and at home to world champions Germany on Monday, the 23-year-old reckons it was the right choice.

“I was working hard to get myself fit for that game but I had to be honest with myself and weigh it up,” said Hanley, who has described Scotland’s initial clash with the Republic of Ireland, at Celtic Park, as one of the best matches and atmospheres he has played in.

“And at the end of the day it’s definitely been better for me to take my time and get myself ready for the season coming.

“I’m feeling miles better for it already and, looking back, it would have been too much going away.

“It was definitely the right decision at the time and I’m feeling the benefits of that now.”

So too are Rovers.

Hanley has been one of their best performers in what has been a disappointing start to the season.

But, while his team-mates continue to prepare for the trip to Fulham on Sunday week, their skipper’s focus is on the two games that could make or break Scotland’s chances of reaching Euro 2016.

Gordon Strachan’s side sit third in the Group D standings going into this afternoon’s Tbilisi clash with Georgia and Monday night’s encounter with 2014 World Cup winners Germany at Hampden Park.

“It’s always brilliant going away with the national team and playing against big teams,” said Hanley.

“We’ve given ourselves a great chance (of qualifying). We’ve done really well and results and performances have been good for us.

“All we can hope for is we put ourselves in a good position to qualify. Who knows what can happen?

“We’ve just got to take it game by game and pick up points along the way.”

Rovers have three points to their name after their first five Championship games of the campaign.

But they would have had fewer had Hanley not netted a dramatic late equaliser in their 1-1 draw at home to Cardiff City.

It was his eighth goal for Rovers but his first in a year.

And Hanley said: “It was nice to get my first goal of the season and hopefully I can get a lot more now.

“It’s something that myself, Shane (Duffy) Killa (Matt Kilgallon) have spoken about, that we need to contribute more from set-plays.

“And it’s something we’ve worked on a lot in pre-season.”