McLean admits he needs to do better

ABERDEEN

BY HIS own admission, Kenny McLean is not firing on all cylinders this season and he knows that if he is once more to catch the eye of Gordon Strachan, he must show an improvement as Aberdeen struggle to recapture their form of last season’s start.

McLean will be central to Aberdeen’s efforts to beat Dundee at Dens Park today, while his guile will be required in the Dons’ bid to reach the Betfred Cup semi-final by beating St Johnstone in the quarter-final at home on Thursday night.

Then there’s the eagerly-awaited Pittodrie clash against Rangers next Sunday and McLean will be keen to shine in all three in order to encourage Strachan to take another look at him after failing to be named in the Scotland manager’s squad for the 5-1 win over Malta in their World Cup qualifier a fortnight ago.

“Everybody will tell you that they would rather be away on international duty than having a break,” said the former St Mirren player, who last saw action in Scotland’s win over the Czech Republic in March. “I’m no different after getting the chance to play for Scotland last season as that was great. That’s what you work towards as a professional footballer and it was special to represent my country.

“Of course, there have been a few squads since then and I haven’t been involved, but that’s up to me. I don’t think I’ve hit the standards I can this season but I feel sharper after the last international break.” McLean concedes the Reds have had a disappointing start to the season and blamed tiredness from the early Europa League ties. He said: “We were back early for the European qualifiers and I think you could see a lack of sharpness and a bit of tiredness in a couple of games. “Personally, I think I need to pick my form up and although we didn’t beat Inverness last week, I felt pretty good the way I played. “Moving forward, I need to get back to being more of a goal threat and get involved higher up the pitch.

“It hasn’t been the start we were hoping for but it’s hard to put your finger on why that’s been the case. We have given away some cheap goals and not taken the chances we have created but we have worked on putting that right.

“The manager [Derek McInnes] is probably in a position to pick two or three different teams now with the quality of players we have here. He could be confident that whoever he puts out would be able to get the job done so we should be winning more games. It’s not happened but it is up to us to prove that, with some good signings, we are stronger than we were last season. Now is the time to start showing that with three big games coming up in a week.”