Mcinnes says Mckenna can be a Scotland mainstay

Aberdeen manager Derek Mcinnes senses the “inspirational” Scott Mckenna has the same determination to hold on to his Scotland jersey as he has shown at club level.

Mckenna continued his rapid rise by performing well for Scotland against Costa Rica and Hungary over the past week. The 21-year-old’s international debut came a year after he was unable to break into the Ayr team as they laboured at the foot of the Championship. The centre-back returned from his unhappy loan spell to transform his fortunes and Mcinnes has been most encouraged by the way Mckenna refuses to rest on his laurels.

“Sometimes a lot of youngsters up and down the country in different clubs get into the first-team environment, whether it’s off the bench or a couple of starts, and they almost take a breath and think ‘this is good’,” said the Dons boss ahead of the Premiership visit of St Johnstone.

“But to actually come in and cement a place and establish himself like Scott isn’t always the norm and it’s more of a challenge.

“Scott came into the team and grabbed his chance and he is determined not to let anybody get his shirt. He has shown that over the past six months. He has got a sniff of it and he wants to stay there and he now has a sniff of the international set-up. Without pre-empting anything, he has done himself no harm of being involved in future squads.”

St Johnstone full-back Richard Foster could complete a remarkable comeback from injury after rejoining Tommy Wright’s squad for the trip to Aberdeen.

The former Dons defender was initially told he would not be fit again until the final weekend of the campaign after being ruled out for 12 weeks with a hamstring tear but has managed to fight his way back in little more than a month. David Wotherspoon also returns.