Aaron Hickey has backed pocket rocket Ben Gannon-Doak to light up this summer's World Cup in the United States. The Brentford full-back has spent the last ten days of Scotland's pre-tournament camp refining his on-pitch partnership with the £25 million Bournemouth winger down the right flank.
Impressive Link-Up Play
The pair combined superbly in Scotland's 4-0 friendly thrashing of Bolivia on Saturday, setting up Che Adams for a tap-in. Hickey is confident they will dovetail even more impressively when the real action begins in Boston on Saturday night, in Scotland's must-win Group C opener against Haiti.
Hickey believes the little maverick could take the entire tournament by surprise. "Yeah, I think so. I think he has something different. He adds something different to the team which is exciting for all of us," Hickey said. "I think we all know that he has that something a little bit different. I think his pace is frightening. He's probably one of the fastest players I've ever played with. He brings that to the team which is good so, yeah, he's going to be a very important player for us."
Developing Partnership
Hickey celebrated his 24th birthday in camp on Wednesday as manager Steve Clarke put the players through another punishing training session in sweltering, sticky conditions in Charlotte, North Carolina. The blossoming partnership between Hickey and Gannon-Doak was given more time to develop on the pitch.
Former Bologna star Hickey added: "It's good. It's exciting for myself as well, playing with Doaky. I think he's a good player, young, exciting, so I think we'll still get used to each other, what we do and how we link up and also defensively. The sessions we're working on every day in training. So, it's been good getting to know him better as a person, and the link-up's been good. So, we're looking forward to the games."
Adapting to Conditions
Hickey also commented on the challenging conditions: "Training here in this heat as well has been different. I think a few of the boys are used to the heat obviously, playing in Italy, myself included, so it's been enjoyable. We've only been here for four days but it's been nice and all the boys like it. It's a really good facility - a great set up - and it's been nice."
He emphasized the focus on the upcoming match: "We've begun preparing for Haiti, doing some video analysis and we're just focused on it now because it's such a massive game for us."
