It was agony watching Scotland struggle from couch, says Lewis Ferguson

LEWIS FERGUSON has taken Serie A by storm with a terrific couple of seasons at Bologna.

The former Hamilton and Aberdeen man was signed by the Italians in the summer of 2022 and played 33 times for them in his first season.

And last season he helped fire them to European football as they finished sixth in the league, just three points behind giants Juventus in third place.

He chipped in with 11 goal contributions in his 33 appearances as he became a fans’ favourite in the north of Italy.

But his season was delivered a hammer blow when he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in May.

He was omitted from the Scotland squad heading into the Euros and he has revealed he felt helpless watching his team mates ‘struggling’ on tv.

Speaking to BBC Scotland, he said: “Mentally it was really hard. There’s never a good time to suffer an injury like this but I just felt the timing was really bad.

“In terms of having the Euros just around the corner, that was really my first thought.

“As soon as I got the results back from the scan and the doctors were explaining to me it was my first question before they had even told me I had done my ACL.

“My first question was about the Euros so mentally it was really tough but I’m in a much better place now and I’m really positive about the rehab and the work that I’m doing.

“It was really difficult being part of the squad throughout the full qualification.

“And then watching the Euros it was disappointing obviously from being a fan.

“And then from myself it was disappointing because when you see your team mates, they were struggling at times and you just want to help and obviously I wasn’t able to do that from the couch.”

Three of Ferguson’s club team mates are Swiss internationals, including Michel Aebischer who recently tipped his Bologna pal for greatness.

But Ferguson wanted them all DUMPED out the group when they faced Scotland in match day two.

He added: “Well I wanted them (Switzerland) to go out. I told them that when the draw was made.”

Presenter Liam McLeod then asked Ferguson if he still wants Switzerland to go out of the Euros when they face England in the Quarter Final tie.

Ferguson responded: “No my mind has definitely changed now.

“But as soon as the draw was made I was with the lads at the time and I’m good friends with all three of them but I wanted Scotland to progress into the next round.”

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