EIGHT IS OVER FOR THE NEW BROONY
Kev: I’ve got Scott’s jersey and I’m aiming to keep it
But Kevin McDonald believes he can be our new anchor man as Scotland set off on the road to Euro 2020.
Following Brown’s retirement from international football, gaffer Alex McLeish was always going to need a midfield pivot to fill his boots.
In modern day football the ‘sitter’ has become more and more important to the success of any side.
McLeish has options in there with the likes of Manchester United kid Scott McTominay and Aston Villa’s John McGinn. Fulham playmaker McDonald was handed the job against Belgium on Friday night and doesn’t want to relinquish it without a fight.
McDonald is a different type of player to former Scotland skipper Brown but now that he’s playing in the Premier League with the Cottagers, he’s adamant that he can cut it at international level. Starting with tomorrow night’s Nations League opener against Albania, McDonald wants to stamp his authority all over McLeish’s new-look side.
He said: “I do
like to play football, which is what the manager has put me in there for. I try my best to do that.
“But all of the boys need to buy into it, we’ve all got to be looking for the ball.
“Hopefully I can make this place my own in the team. I’m a confident guy and know if the team wants to play, I’ll fit in well.
“I understand we have lots of different options and some teams don’t try to play the way we are.
“Luckily at Fulham, we play football. Everyone wants to play in the Premier League and fortunately I’m there now. That will definitely help me for Scotland.
“We see a lot of the ball at Fulham and that can only stand me in good stead for these Nations League games.
“To throw all the Scotland boys together, work on stuff playing from the back – which is different for some people – that’s hard.
“Personally, I want to stay in this Scotland team.
“By the looks of it, I could be the guy who is in possession of the jersey at the moment.
“I suppose we’ll find out if I’m in the team against Albania and it’s my shirt to lose. Broony had a fantastic career for Scotland. It’s a big gap to fill but it’s one I’m confident of doing.”
McLeish is trying to implement a new style of play thanks to having guys such as McDonald in his side.
They have had a chance to work on it in friendlies against the likes of Belgium, Peru, Mexico and Hungary.
The acid test of how the team has progressed will come against the Albanians tomorrow night when the result will matter more than the performance.
McDonald knows it’s a must-win fixture against the early group leaders in the Nations League.
He said: “No disrespect to Albania but they are no Belgium. That’s the way we have to look at it.
“We have to go in there confident, put across our style of play – and win. It’s as simple as that.
“We’ve got to put in a good performance at Hampden. We need to win.
“We’ve played some good teams in friendly games, sides who were at the World Cup, while we’re trying to build. I understand that there will already be questions asked of the manager but this is the main game at the end of the day.
“It’s up to us to go and prove we are capable of winning this group. Everything is geared towards this.
“We’ve worked hard on the Albania game already. We know how hard it is to qualify from the Euros group stage so this is an extra chance.
“We’re playing a couple of tough teams but we’re all confident that we can do the job.
“If we do the right things, try to play, work really hard off the ball and enjoy defending, we’ll have more possession than we did against Belgium.
“We have to be positive about the Nations League. Hopefully the fans will turn out in their numbers.
“But if we let in sloppy goals like we did on Friday night, that will turn against us. Hopefully this is a fresh start in the Nations League and we will be ready to go.”
The heavy Belgium defeat was a sore one for the Scotland players to take, especia l ly g iven the individual errors which led to goals. McDonald is glad the mistakes came in a f riendly before the competitive action starts tomorrow night.
He’s convinced the way McLeish is getting them to play is the way forward for the national team.
He said: “I enjoyed it against Belgium. As an experience it was great playing against probably the second best team in the world.
“Sometimes you have to admire their quality. “At times we played well and at other times we were all over the place. That’s the type of thing we have to work on but it’s a new team.
“We know that being beaten 4- 0 at home is unacceptable but we made mistakes that cost us. We can’t afford to do that but we want to continue to play football.
“The manager wants to change our style of play, passing through the lines. That’s the way it is.
“We have to be confident on the ball. We’d rather make those mistakes against Belgium than against Albania. This is a massive game, we’ll be ready.”
It’s up to us to go out there and prove we are capable of winning this group