McKenna walking on air after sidelining at Ayr

He is an Aberdeen first-pick who Derek McInnes wouldn’t consider accepting a big money bid for in January, writes Eric Nicolson.

And he’s at the front of the queue of a crop of young defenders who may be about to show that centre-back won’t be a problem position for Scotland for much longer.

But Scott McKenna doesn’t have to go too far back in time to recall the days when he couldn’t even get a game for Ayr United and Saturday afternoons were being spent in a Dundee gym rather than on a football pitch.

A lot of good things have happened for the 21-year-old from Kirriemuir in a short period of time since being sidelined at Somerset Park, with the high point about to come on Friday night if he makes his full debut against Costa Rica.

“It’s a bit surreal being here, to be honest,” said McKenna. “But I’m delighted to get picked.

“It’s quite crazy, to be honest, to think about the last year.

“When I was at Ayr, I knew what I could do but I just wasn’t able to produce it on the pitch. But whenever I wasn’t playing I was working harder to improve on what I already had. I just hoped it would all come together.

“If I wasn’t playing on a Saturday, I’d drive back up the road to Forfar and stop off in Dundee and go to the gym.

“It was more out of frustration that I went to the gym. I lifted weights and tried to get all the anger out.”

Despite being the name from Aberdeen who struggled to make his mark in League One, McKenna neither threw his toys out of the pram nor got disheartened.

“I wasn’t playing well enough and the boys who came in did well and I couldn’t argue,” he said. “It was frustrating knowing that I could do it, but wasn’t playing well enough.

“That happens in football and it was all about how I bounced back.

“It was the first time I’d been dropped and I had to learn how to handle it. I didn’t go moaning to the manager – I accepted it and tried to work my way back.

“I would never say I’ve made it – I know at Aberdeen there are boys waiting to steal my position. If I knocked off then I would be the one out and struggling to get back in.”

There is no doubting how highly McInnes rates McKenna. The fouryear-contract and the refusal to entertain offers from Hull City tells you that.

“It was flattering,” he admitted. “But the manager at Aberdeen pulled me aside straight away and said I wasn’t going anywhere.

“He said that unless it was a ridiculous bid he wanted to keep me there. I was on a long-term deal as it was and the manager said ‘I want you to experience success here,’ so hopefully that’ll happen.

“Ever since I went full-time at 16 he’s looked after me really well.

“I went away with the first team on the first pre-season after I went full-time. I did well in the Development League that season and then he put me out on loan the following season to bring me on.

“But he would never throw me in too early or too soon. He said he was going to wait until the time was right and he did that.

“Even when I was at Ayr and not playing he said ‘listen, don’t worry about it, we know what you’re capable of’. He told me just to try and get back to the level they knew I could reach and I’d do fine at Aberdeen. “Thankfully I managed that.” A commanding physical presence these days, no doubt helped by all that gym work, McKenna hasn’t always been a centre-back.

“I didn’t play centre-half until 16 or 17,” he said.

“When I went to Aberdeen at 11 I was a left winger. Then I was moved to left-back and eventually centre-half.

“It was something the coaches thought would benefit me trying to make it.

“I’m definitely not a tricky left winger! I’ve grown a bit and filled out since then and I can’t move as quickly as I did.”

New national manager Alex McLeish may be the perfect mentor and omen for McKenna.

“I’ve been told that Alex won his first cap at 21 and hopefully I can do the same,” he said. “It’s what I want to do.

“There are a lot of people at Aberdeen who know him very well and have told me about him as a player and as a manager. Hopefully he can pass on information that can benefit me.

“I didn’t expect to get named in the squad.

“It’s a massive opportunity to join up and hopefully do well.

“We all want to stay in the squad so it’s up to each individual to do well in the games and then go back to their clubs and continue to play well.

“There is competition for the position. It’s just up to each person individually to see who performs the best.”

Scott McKenna: highly-rated by Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes.