The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Mcnulty hasn’t given up hope on Euros spot
Dundee United strike pair Marc Mcnulty and Lawrence Shankland are determined to make their mark for the club to give themselves a chance with Scotland at Euro 2020 this summer.
The latter was a surprise omission last week from Steve Clarke’s squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers but Mcnulty, who last featured for Scotland two years ago – is harbouring personal ambitions.
The on-loan Reading striker said: “We aren’t in the squad obviously but speaking for Lawrence, he is definitely good enough.
“He has just found it a bit frustrating this season that he has not scored goals, like myself.
“There are a few games left, so we’ll just have to knuckle down, score goals and then see what happens from there.
“For everyone who has not made that squad, you never know what can happen in football – it changes quickly.
“You just need to make sure you are ready if need be.
“Hopefully in the remaining games of the season we can score a few goals between us.”
Marc Mcnulty is determined to hit the goal trail for Dundee United between now and the end of the season to keep his Euros dream alive.
The Tangerines beat Aberdeen 1-0 at Tannadice on Saturday but despite that, Micky Mellon’s men will see out the campaign in the Premiership bottom six.
United still have plenty to play for in their remaining matches with Mcnulty – who last featured for Scotland two years ago – also harbouring personal ambitions, just like strike partner Lawrence Shankland.
The latter was a surprise omission last week from Steve Clarke’s squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers but Mcnulty insists that in football, things can change in the blink of an eye.
And the pair are determined to make their mark for the club to give themselves a chance with their country this summer.
The on-loan Reading striker said: “We aren’t in the squad obviously but speaking for Lawrence, he is definitely good enough.
“He has just found it a bit frustrating this season that he has not scored goals, like myself.
“There are a few games left, so we’ll just have to knuckle down, score goals and then see what happens from there.
“For everyone who has not made that squad, you never know what can happen in football – it changes quickly.
“You just need to make sure you are ready if need be.”
Mcnulty conceded that although he and Shankland may not have netted the number of goals for United they would have liked this season, they have still been working their socks off for the team.
The 28-year-old said: “We are probably not a team that creates a lot of chances every game which can be frustrating for us strikers.
“That’s just the way it has been. The manager wants us to press from the front, try to nick it higher up the pitch and then create chances.
“We have been getting better at that recently. Hopefully in the remaining games of the season we can score a few goals between us.”
Mcnulty could be heard giving a bit back to his manager on Saturday but the player insists everyone at the club knows he loves nothing more than having a moan.
He added: “It keeps me on my game, moaning at everybody.
“The manager wants us to press every single ball and I am sure you can hear him from the sidelines, egging us on to chase that ball.”
United certainly did not have a lot to moan about after their well-deserved win over Aberdeen.
There was a big scare for the home side early on when a Dean Campbell shot was deflected on to Benjamin Siegrist’s righthand post but after that the Dons rarely threatened.
Shankland had a great chance shortly before half-time but his dinked effort was stopped on the line.
However, Aberdeen could do nothing to prevent United netting with a goal of the highest quality in the 61st minute.
The slickly-worked move started with Jeando Fuchs winning possession on the byline, with the ball breaking to Shankland, who played it to the midfielder with a cheeky back-heel.
Fuchs then passed to Ian Harkes, who fed the ball to Shankland in the Dons box with the striker teeing up Adrian Sporle to calmly fire past Joe Lewis.
It was enough to secure all three points but Mcnulty admitted the joy of winning was also tinged with a sense of regret about what might have been.
Mcnulty said: “That was a very satisfying win but there is a bit of disappointment as well not being in the top six.
“I know we have just come up, but there is a good enough squad there to be in the top six.”
Before kick-off, the United players stood instead of taking the knee as a sign of solidarity with Rangers’ Glen Kamara and others who have suffered at the hands of racism.
Mcnulty said: “One of the boys had mentioned it before in the changing room about what we could do to raise awareness, obviously with Glen Kamara.
“We thought that was the right thing to do so that’s what we have done.”