McKenna’s despair is long gone as he contemplates final push to Euro 2020

A dark, lonely room – that’s the miserable place Scott McKenna was left in at Scotland’s hotel following defeat in Kazakhstan.

He and his room-mate Graeme Shinnie could barely speak to each other.

After being humbled 3- 0 by the hosts in Scotland’s opening Euro 2020 qualifier, there was a period of quiet reflection.

McKenna, and par t icularly Shinnie, were heavily criticised after Alex McLeish’s side were humiliated by a team ranked No.117 in the world.

At that point, getting to the Euros was just a pipe dream for Scotland.

There was no way back and ultimately that result in March 2019 cost McLeish his job.

So for McKenna now to be on the cusp of qual i fying for a major tournament, just 90 minutes away from making history?

Even the man himself can’t put it into words.

The Nottingham Forest centreback is desperate to be involved in Thursday night’s critical play-off final against Serbia in Belgrade.

He can’t think beyond that. Because if he does, it takes him into a fantasy land that as a kid growing up, he just didn’t think was possible.

That’s how much it means to Steve Clarke’s players in midweek.

In an exclusive interview with MailSport, the former Aberdeen centre-back said: “I can’t think of the words to try to explain what it would mean to qualify.

“When I think back to that game in Kazakhstan, I couldn’t have envisaged being in this position.

“I was sharing a room with Shinnie that night. You couldn’t have found two worse people to share after that game.

“That was a dark, lonely room that night. Even when we scraped past San Marino in the next game, it just wasn’t great.

“But we put in a lot of hard work during the Nations League to get us

IN A DARK PLACE McKenna is suffering after Kazakh defeat to this stage and now there’s so much riding on it.

“We’re one game from a Euros. It doesn’t get much bigger than that.

“Even though I wasn’t in the last squad through injury, I was still in our group chat and I could sense just how good the team spirit was.

“I wished I was part of it but it just made me even hungrier to be back involved.

“I was only two years old when we were last at a major tournament – the World Cup in 1998.

“But I remember watching Scotland games at 14 or 15 thinking, ‘I’ll never get a chance to play for my country.’

“You never think you’ll reach that level so to be part of a squad that is now one game away from a major tournament is special.

“Words won’t be able to describe it until we get the feeling. There’s no point in me trying to explain it because none of us has felt anything like it before.”

Injured McKenna sat in his Nottingham f lat, having not long made the £3million move to Forest, watching the play- off semi- f inal against Israel on his computer.

The penalty shoot- out win for Clarke’s boys shredded his nerves like never before.

He said: “I’ve never been so nervous watching a game. I was just sat in the house. I don’t even have Sky TV yet so I was watching it on my laptop.

“I was buzzing when John McGinn’s penalty squirmed in then big Marsh (David Marshall) made the save.

“Kenny McLean got the winner and it was brilliant because there was so much riding on it.

“The nerves were like nothing I’ve experienced watching a game of football before – even though I wasn’t actually involved.

“I watched all of the games I missed and that was an incredible week for the national team.

“I know I’ll need to fight to get my place back in the team now but I’m just delighted to be part of the squad for such a big game on Thursday.”

McKenna is back fit and on form for Forest, under new gaffer Chris Hughton. He bagged his first goal for the club on Wednesday night against Coventry City in a 2-1 victory.

After previous moves to England failed to materialise, the 23-year-old felt this was right for his career.

But he has revealed it was an emotional farewell for him after a decade at Pittodrie.

And despite the man who signed him at the City Ground, Sabri Lamouchi, being sacked, McKenna is convinced Hughton can get Forest challenging at the top of the Championship again.

He said: “I’m loving it so far. It’s a different challenge after being in the same place for 10 years.

“It’s good to play different teams every week and only twice a season.

“A couple of years a go at Aberdeen, we p layed Rangers seven times . They were good games but ge t t ing something different every week now is great. This move felt right and the timing was good. I didn’t expect anything to happen after my injury and Covid-19.

“But everything happened pretty quickly. I knew it was happening on a Saturday and Aberdeen were playing Motherwell on the Sunday.

“The gaffer Derek McInnes said I could go in and say cheerio to the lads and the staff. That meant a lot to me.

“But it was strange. You look forward to that moment when you’re allowed to go but when it actually happens, you realise that this is all I’ve known. I was a bit sad, knowing it was my last day at Aberdeen.

“But as soon as everything was signed, I had a game a few days later so I had to concentrate on being a Forest player. I was thrown straight in by the previous manager.

“It’s not as big a jump as I was expecting. I don’t think the game in Scotland is as bad as people make it out to be.

“Hughton’s track record of success in the Championship means it’s exciting for everyone at the club. And then we found out Steven Reid was coming in as well, which was great given that I work with him with Scotland.

“I can’t slacken off too much in training w ith Steven now watching me every day!”

I watche d 15 Scotlan thinkin d at play g I’ll never for my now we’re country

.. one game from major tou rname nt