Third time plucky for me, says McDonald

SCOTT McDONALD has admitted the desire to prolong his career was one of the main reasons he signed on again with Motherwell. The Australian striker left Millwall back in February to return to Fir Park for a second spell and his five goals helped the Steelmen retain their Premiership place. His contract expired after the 6-1 win over Rangers in the Play-Off Final but, after rejecting better financial terms from other interested clubs, the 31-year-old is back for a third time. ‘Motherwell offer me security, which wasn’t the case at other clubs,’ said McDonald. ‘I have a one-year deal and I have the option to extend that. ‘I want to play for as long as I can and I’m a lot fitter these days. We’ll see how this year pans out. It’s one step at a time but if my family is happy then I’m happy. ‘I want to be a manager one day but I hope I can play for another five years or so. ‘If I can win a trophy during that time then that would be great. It’ll be 25 years next season since Motherwell won the Scottish Cup – so we’re due a cup run. ‘It would be nice to do that again and when you see some of the clubs that have been successful in recent years then there’s no reason why we couldn’t do that. ‘Obviously, it would be nice to mark that anniversary with another trophy but, as always, the league is the priority.’ McDonald claims consistency is the key for Motherwell in the forthcoming campaign if they’re to avoid being sucked into another relegation fight. ‘This season is about stability,’ he continued. ‘Everyone will be aiming for a top-six finish and we’re no different. Let’s see where that takes us. ’