Graeme Souness suggested the humour shown by Alan Hansen in their recent conversations is a sign the former Scotland defender is "on the way back".
Hansen has been seriously ill in hospital, with the footballing world rallying around the 69-year-old. On Monday, Souness suggested his old colleague was on the mend after chatting with him on the phone, and has now provided another positive update.
Souness had earlier revealed he was praying for Hansen, paying an emotional tribute to his friend during ITV's coverage of Scotland's Euro 2024 opener against Germany. Match of the Day host Gary Lineker, who played against Hansen several times at club level, spoke about the ex-defender during the BBC's broadcast of Italy v Albania.
There has been a significant response from football fans, with many sending messages of support. Souness has remained in contact with Hansen and his family throughout, issuing a fresh update on Friday.
"Anyone who's met Alan Hansen, he has a wicked sense of humour so I've had two conversations with him in the last five, six days," Souness told talkSPORT. "Both conversations were me on the receiving end of his humour, so that tells me he's on the way back."
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The comments follow Souness' indication earlier in the week that his friend "sounded fabulous". "He's definitely back because he did nothing but take the Mickey out of me!" the 71-year-old said on Monday.
“I’ve been speaking to his son and Janet his wife and I’ve been phoning his phone, his phone number," Souness explained. "I got on the train on Sunday and I was looking for my seat and my phone rang and I could see it was Big Al.
"I was thinking ‘Oh no, don’t answer that’. So I sat down and got the courage to phone back and HE answered the phone. He’s been in a difficult place but the way he sounded yesterday, he’s back, and I hope I’m right.”
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Graeme Souness (L) and Alan Hansen (R) with their former team-mate Kenny Dalglish (PA)Souness and Hansen were part of Scotland's squad at the 1982 World Cup when Jock Stein's side failed to make it out of their group. It could be a similar story in 2024, with Steve Clarke's team failing to win either of their first two group games, but victory over Hungary on Sunday could be enough to see them through.
If they are to progress, though, they'll have to do it without Kieran Tierney. The defender went off injured in the draw with Switzerland, and his tournament is over.
"He's got an issue with his hamstring and as we speak, he's heading home to be assessed by Arsenal," coach John Carver told reporters. "That's all I can really say at the moment, they'll obviously give you updates as they have it.
"He's obviously extremely disappointed. If we do progress and we move through the tournament, I'm sure he'll be back to support us. He's a young lad, he's got plenty of time and he's got to make sure it's right for his return."
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