ANY GOAL WILL DO FOR SCOTT IN FESTIVE BATTLE
SCOTT McDONALD already has a spectacular goal in a 1-1 Champions League draw with the reigning European Champions on his CV. As such, his overhead kick against Aberdeen on Friday night was never going to take pride of place at the top of his career showreel. While the Australian will one day savour his stunning strike in the 3-1 defeat at Fir Park, right now his priority is Motherwell’s Premiership survival. Sitting just a point off bottom, Mark McGhee’s side face an important week when they travel to 12th-placed Inverness Caley Thistle tomorrow night before they head to Hamilton, who sit 11th, in the Lanarkshire derby on Hogmanay. McDonald knows Motherwell’s fortunes in 2017 could be shaped by how they end 2016 and a scuffed effort against either side would be more welcome right now than his Aberdeen Christmas cracker. ‘My goal for Celtic against Manchester United in the Champions League (in 2008) is probably my best ever,’ he said. ‘I brought it down in a tight area and dinked it over Ben Foster. They were the European Champions, so I don’t think you can beat that. ‘Yes, it was a great goal against Aberdeen but I was disappointed because the game was there for the taking. ‘When you are at home and you equalise, you hope to go on and win the game. But we didn’t do enough in the second half and Aberdeen won 3-1. We didn’t really turn up in the second half and the feeling is we could have done so much better. ‘So my goal is probably one for the memories, not one to be savoured at the time. I’ll look back on it later and be happy with it, though. ‘But we have to (take our frustrations out on Inverness). It’s always tough up there, so we will have to be at our best.’ McDonald welcomes the busy festive fixture schedule as Motherwell seek to move up the table before the winter shutdown in January. ‘Games generally don’t come think and fast in Scotland, but sometimes it’s a good thing to get straight back on the horse,’ he said. ‘We had a couple of days off with our families over Christmas and then it was time to get going again. ‘We had to regroup and make sure we are all patched up. ‘It’s really tight down there at the bottom of the table, so we will be looking to get maximum points up in Inverness.’