UNITED WILL BENEFIT FROM SHANKS SNUB
LOGAN CHALMERS is in no doubt Lawrence Shankland’s Scotland snub will make him determined to deliver for Dundee United.
The goal-hungry striker, who will be looking to take out his frustrations against Aberdeen today, had been an international regular until Steve Clarke overlooked him for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
Chalmers believes Shankland will get back in and knows the best way to do it is to get on the goal trail.
The 20-year-old said: “I think all of us were disappointed for Shanks because we all know how good he is. We know he’ll bounce back and I think he’ll get back in the squad.
“He’ll want to prove himself in the games that we’ve got coming up that he should be in the squad.”
Chalmers is also looking to make his own impression in the final run-in, after missing three months of the season with ligament damage.
The attacker said: “It was a tough three months. Especially the time that it came, I was playing well in and around the team but it’s part of football and I just had to get over it.
“The most frustrating thing at the time was that I didn’t know how long I was going to be out for.
“Then I got a scan and realised there wasn’t really a timeframe on it and it was more just an injury where I have to let it heal itself and I’d come back in my own time.
“I still felt it quite sore throughout and I was starting to think in my head ‘Is this ever going to go away? It’s not getting much better.’
“But I went and saw a few specialists across Scotland and just hearing someone at the top of their game explain that it’s normal to feel like this and a bit sore, that was reassuring to hear from specialists. Thankfully now it is better.”
The Scotland U-21 cap is coming back into a United team that has more of a cutting edge now. They look likely to miss out on the top six but Micky Mellon won’t let the season end with a whimper.
Chalmers believes competition in the squad will keep them going.
He added: “I’ve been watching all of the boys’ games and they’ve still been doing well. It’s good for me to come back now. I’ve got some competition and I just want to try to get back in the team.
“For the team, we probably know now that top six probably can’t be achieved but we just have to make sure that we take each game as it comes and finish the season as strongly as we can going into next season.”