On a night when most of Scottish football was fixated on the slow-motion car crash that was Celtic’s Champions League elimination in Kazakhstan, something potentially momentous was happening on England’s south coast.

Brentford’s 2-0 victory at Bournemouth in the second round of the Carabao Cup, played in front of just 10,500 people, was the sort of humdrum midweek affair that tempts even ardent armchair fans to switch channel.

Yet you could imagine Scotland manager Steve Clarke was looking on with a dram and an uncharacteristically broad smile.

The 23-year-old Glaswegian had featured sporadically in pre-season for the Bees, and made fleeting appearances from the bench in their Premier League openers against Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa.

But finally, in Dorset, came the landmark moment Hickey had been waiting for – after almost two years in purgatory following a serious hamstring injury suffered at Stamford Bridge in October 2023. He performed creditably, too, lasting 59 minutes in a right wing-back role before being withdrawn.

It’s easy to forget just how much of a reference point Hickey had become for Clarke’s Scotland before the torment of the last 24 months.

Everyone remembers his star-making appearance for Hearts in the 2019 Scottish Cup final, aged just 16, and the whirlwind couple of years that followed as his talent, grit and adaptability carried him to northern Italy, then west London, compelling Bologna and Brentford to spend a combined £15.5million for his services.

Hickey didn’t make his international debut until March 2022 in a friendly against Poland. From then on, however, he became indispensable, collecting 14 caps in 18 months and starting the famous wins over Spain and Norway which helped secure Scotland’s place at Euro 2024.

Sadly, of course, he was unable to take any part in that tournament. No Tartan Army member will need reminded, after stand-in Anthony Ralston went up against Jamal Musiala and Xherdan Shaqiri.

Since then, Ralston has mostly made the right-back/right wing-back position his own without exactly winning rave reviews, with Nathan Patterson and Ross McCrorie unable to provide much competition and Max Johnston — now of Derby County — still at a relatively early phase of his development.

But it doesn’t take a UEFA A Licence to see that those continuing issues on the right side of defence are one of the reasons why Scotland have fallen into a malaise in the latter days of Clarke’s reign.

Hickey’s long-awaited return actually presents both an opportunity and a dilemma for the head coach.

The player could have a decade or more of international appearances ahead of him, something no one wants to jeopardise by throwing him in at the deep end too soon. 

Yet the idea of starting the one-time Manchester City target in one or both of the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Denmark and Belarus must be sorely tempting.

Given the Danes’ abundance of speedy, skilful attackers, Scotland could certainly do with someone capable of keeping up with them.

Andy Bargh, BBC Scotland commentator and host of The Hampden Roar — a podcast which puts the national side’s performances and squad selections under the microscope — believes Hickey is ready to be unleashed.

‘If he’s fit enough to be included in the squad, he’s fit enough to start a game,’ says Bargh. ‘It might be for an hour but, if he can show during the training camp he is ready to go, he should play at least one of the games from the start.

‘I think Anthony Ralston will start away to Denmark but, if it is three centre-halves, Steve Clarke might deploy Hickey as a wing-back instead of Ralston.

‘Having him back is a significant boost. Without a doubt, he is our first-choice on that side, at either full-back or wing-back. He is the most capable right-back we have in possession, he is a reliable defender and brings composure and solidity to the team.

‘I don’t think he possesses a habit of hitting the bye-line and creating chances but, overall, he was excellent and easily in front of Patterson in the hierarchy during our run of wins and encouraging performances two years ago.

‘That said, his return is only a boost if he is truly over his injury troubles — not just physically, but mentally. Time will tell.’

And what of Hickey’s future at club level? The immediate priority has to be winning back his place in Brentford’s first-choice XI. 

That won’t necessarily be easy, with 21-year-old Italian Michael Kayode — whose move from Fiorentina was made permanent in the summer following a successful loan spell — currently standing in his way.

‘Kayode has been excellent since coming into the side towards the end of last season, he’s shown himself to be more than capable of playing regular Premier League football,’ says journalist Sam Tabuteau, who covers Brentford for the London Evening Standard.

‘Hickey’s talent, however, is undeniable, and he makes Brentford a better team when fully fit. It’s early days for Hickey, he’s been out for nearly two years after all, so it remains to be seen whether Keith Andrews has a clear preference between the two.

‘There’s a lot of goodwill towards Hickey at Brentford. He signed a new three-year deal in January, which the club offered him even though he’d been out for 14 months at that point. No-one has forgotten the impact he had on the team before his injury problems.

‘On both a human and a footballing level, the fans are glad to have him back playing again.’

The reality, as Clarke and many of his predecessors have had to accept, is that sometimes Scotland managers have no choice but to select someone who isn’t getting a game for his club. Yet, as the Premier League campaign progresses, Hickey’s versatility just might prove to be his trump card.

With Brentford playing in front of an average crowd of just over 17,000, and always at risk of losing their best players, tactical flexibility has been one of the keys to the club’s unlikely survival in the world’s richest league these last four seasons.

The Bees regularly flitted between a back three and a back four under previous boss Thomas Frank, and appear set to do likewise under Andrews. With his ability to play more or less anywhere on either flank, that makes the two-footed Hickey the archetype of what a Brentford player should be.

‘With Kayode making the right-back position his own, minutes in Aaron’s favoured position may not be guaranteed,’ reckons Tabuteau, ‘but there’s no reason why he can’t stake a claim in a variety of positions throughout the season. Continuity is the cornerstone of Brentford’s ethos this season after a huge summer of change, and that should benefit Hickey.

‘Under Andrews, they want to play with the same intensity as they did under Thomas Frank. None of that will be new to Hickey, but being able to trust his body and commit fully to Brentford’s style of play will take time and patience.’

Despite their advancing years, Andy Robertson and Kieran Tierney still rule the roost on the left side of Scotland’s defence. 

The situation on the right is more uncertain, and perhaps more intriguing, especially after the sudden emergence of Kilmarnock teenager Ben Brannan (right-footed, but currently making waves as a left wing-back). How does Bargh see the hierarchy evolving over the coming years?

‘I think Ralston will probably be involved throughout the World Cup qualifying campaign,’ he says, ‘although not as first-choice if Hickey is fit, and maybe not as second choice if Johnston hits the ground running at Derby.

‘Johnston should kick on in the English Championship and has more time on his side, but McCrorie might be able to impress Clarke’s eventual replacement as manager and Patterson may be able to find rhythm somewhere, if not at Everton.

‘Ralston has been a decent short-term fix, in my opinion. There was the short back pass against Switzerland that Shaqiri took advantage of, and he didn’t have a great first half against Poland in the Nations League opener but, overall, I don’t recall him having many shockers for Scotland.

‘Like the situation with Stephen O’Donnell a few years ago, I don’t agree that playing Ralston is a critical issue. But Hickey undoubtedly takes us up a notch. He is the first-choice in that area of the park, and if he maintains fitness he should — and will, I’m sure — re-emerge as the No1.’