McKENNA RISE FIRES UP FRANK

ABERDEEN kid Frank Ross admits he has been inspired by watching Scott McKenna’s stunning rise after the Scotland stopper threatened to walk away from football just a year ago.

McKenna went from being an Under-20s no hoper at the start of last season to his country’s stand-in captain and a target for Aston Villa and Celtic in the last transfer window.

The 21-year-old is being tipped to earn a huge move but Ross admits his team-mate’s confidence was once so low McKenna was considering working away from the game.

Ross, who is dreaming of following in McKenna’s footsteps after being handed his first Scotland Under-21s call-up, said: “This time last year Scott was training with the 20s every week, struggling for confidence. He was considering packing it in and going to work with his dad.

“But then he came away with the Scotland Under-21s, played against Holland and hasn’t looked back. Now he’s being talked of as a £10million man!

“Have I mentioned it much? No, he’s big-headed enough as it is! So we don’t mention it much.”

Ross, above, has replaced injured Dons team-mate Scott Wright in Scot Gemmill’s squad for the clashes with Andorra and the Netherlands.

He joins Aberdeen new boy Lewis Ferguson in the Scots set-up and insists the future is bright at Pittodrie with so much young talent.

Ross said: “Myself, Scott Wright, Scott McKenna, Bruce Anderson and Connor McLennan have all been full-time since we were 16.

“We’ve all done the jobs and cleaned the boots when we were 16 wanting to play for the first team.

“Now it’s happening it’s good and I know these trips with Scotland could be so valuable to me.”