We’re in major need of Tom, says McDonald
McDonald insists that his Fulham team-mate Cairney will not defect and can make Scots tick
KEVIN McDONALD has dismissed claims that Tom Cairney is on the verge of defecting to England — and has urged Alex McLeish to give his Fulham team-mate the chance to reignite Scotland’s Nations League campaign.
Twice-capped playmaker Cairney has reportedly been earmarked by Gareth Southgate for a change of allegiance, owing to the fact both his Scotland appearances came in non-competitive matches.
A foot injury caused McLeish to leave Cairney out of the squad that travelled to Israel for Thursday’s 2-1 defeat and the national coach only added confusion to the Fulham captain’s status by claiming his club had made him ‘unavailable’ and that Scotland remained ‘vulnerable’ to any advances from south of the border.
McDonald insists there is scant chance of defection. And, having toiled against the Israelis in midweek, the midfielder argues his club colleague is the man to light up the team when it reconvenes for competitive duty against Albania in Shkoder next month.
‘Tom will be back, I’m sure of that,’ insisted McDonald. ‘I’m 99-per-cent sure he is going to come and play for Scotland.
‘I would be very surprised if he went and played for England. We could do with a player like him in the team, someone to relax on the ball, find the pockets and play the football. The space was there against Israel.
‘Albania will be perfect for him. Get the guy in and let him show what he can do. Let him prove to the manager that he deserves to be here. If called up I’m sure he’ll do a great job.’
Although born in Nottingham, Cairney qualifies through his Uddingston-born father and represented Scotland six times at Under-21 level before belatedly making the step up under Gordon Strachan last year.
The 27-year-old debuted in a friendly against Canada at Easter Road but sat on the bench for the subsequent World Cup qualifier against Slovenia and again when Strachan’s team drew against Southgate’s England at Hampden that summer.
He started McLeish’s first match against Costa Rica, but struggled in an unfamiliar wide-right role and has not featured since.
Excused from the summer tour to Peru and South America, Cairney was selected by McLeish for the first Nations League match against the Albanians, despite having already picked up the foot knock that saw him substituted 12 minutes from the end of a 4-2 win over Burnley.
‘People put two and two together,’ added McDonald. ‘He has a little knock, he hasn’t turned up so maybe he is considering England.
‘He has been injured. He was out for a few weeks, came on against Everton and then had a little setback from his injury that put him back another couple of weeks.
‘He wasn’t in the squad to play Arsenal last weekend and that then ruled him out of the international break.
‘But he is definitely up for it, 100 per cent. He is up for playing for Scotland and if fit and selected he will want to play. There is no question about that.
‘Nothing has even been mentioned between us about England because I think there is no real possibility.
‘He will be back and he is the type of player we could do with. You need to dig in, in terms of working hard off it but he is good on the ball.’
It’s thought that Strachan’s reservations over Cairney’s work-rate prevented the Craven Cottage man featuring competitively but McDonald has been impressed with how his sidekick made the step up to Premier League football this term.
Crucially, their partnership in the middle of the park is also established and proven to work.
Despite himself struggling to pin down a place in Slavisa Jokanovic’s team this term, McDonald has emerged as McLeish’s first-choice pick for the midfield anchor role — a position weakened by the loss of Scott Brown (retired), Darren Fletcher (phased out) and James McArthur (indefinitely unavailable) since the conclusion of the World Cup campaign.
McLeish’s determination to pursue a 3-5-2 formation asks much of the midfield three yet too often McDonald, John McGinn and Callum McGregor looked disconnected and over-run in Haifa.
Although Scotland carried a half-time lead thanks to Charlie Mulgrew’s penalty, had it not been for a top-class performance from Allan McGregor in goal, one of the all-time great humiliations could have befallen McLeish’s team. McDonald can scarcely understand why.
‘In my eyes and in a lot of people’s eyes, Israel were there for the taking,’ he argued. ‘We really fancied ourselves and it was there for us. It really was but we lost sloppy goals.’
Having been comprehensively outplayed, the team was booed by travelling fans at the end, with the loudest taunts reserved for McLeish.
Although an occasional squad member under previous coaches, McDonald, 29, had remained uncapped until the manager’s appointment earlier this year and therefore feels loyalty to the man in charge.
Even so, there is realism about how he is viewed by the paying customers.
‘The gaffer is the one who takes the stick,’ he says. ‘He holds his head high and he knows we should have won this game.
‘He is under a lot of pressure from the fans — I’m sure he wasn’t their No 1 choice but he is the manager now and no one is going to change that.
‘He has put his faith in me and I’ve repaid him. He wants me to stick in and do a job. We are all behind him. We always will be. Everyone has an opinion and they are entitled to it. The fans have travelled a long way and they want to see their country win.
‘We’re back to square one because everyone in the group has three points. As much as it won’t be said, there are plenty positives to take from the Israel game.
‘On another day we could win that game. We restricted them to a few long-distance shots and that was that.
‘It’s all to play for and we are still confident.’
While Israel prepare to entertain Albania this evening, Scotland welcome the reigning European champions to Hampden.
‘It’s not going to get easier against Portugal but everybody knows the Nations League is the main thing,’ added McDonald. ‘We have taken on the so-called glamour friendlies against Belgium and Portugal, but these teams are expected to win.
‘We just need to work on the things we want to, knowing that we are planning ahead to the next international break and the two massive games there.
‘We need to put this behind us, learn from our mistakes and go again.’
‘ALBANIA WILL BE JUST PERFECT FOR HIM. GET THE GUY IN AND LET HIM SHOW WHAT HE CAN DO’