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International Dons gear up for Scotland Duty

09 October 2018
Author AFC Media Team

 

The international break often allows players and staff the opportunity to switch off and recharge the batteries. In the time since the last break, Aberdeen have played five matches including a Betfred Cup Quarter-Final which went all the way to penalty kicks and will look forward to a return to the national stadium at the end of this month. The Dons have had to contend with an unusually high number of injuries this season and these players will be using the break as an opportunity to step up their return to action. Injury ruled Scott Wright, Lewis Ferguson and Frank Ross out of contention for Scotland U21 selection although Lewis returned for Saturday’s win against St Mirren.

SCOTLAND FIRST TEAM

For Graeme Shinnie and Scott McKenna the hard work doesn’t stop as they link up with Scotland once again. Alex McLeish and his team will jet off to Israel for their second UEFA Nations League match on Thursday before playing host to Portugal in a friendly on Sunday night. Last time out Scotland dispatched Albania at Hampden to go top of the three team group with the winners qualifying for the Nations League play-offs which in turn gives Scotland a huge chance to make it to Euro 2020. McKenna missed the last round of fixtures due to injury and will be a welcomed addition to the Scottish defence having already made the breakthrough last season. Graeme made his home debut in the 4-0 defeat to the star-studded Belgium and if either player is selected for the Israel match then it will be a competitive debut. 

It’s been a whirlwind twelve months for Scott and few could have predicted his season would end by captaining his country in the friendly against Mexico in June. The centre half’s excellent form for Aberdeen earned a call up to Alex McLeish’s first Scotland squad and he played in both games against Costa Rica and Hungary including a man of the match performance in the latter. You have to go back to the late ’90’s if you’re to find the last Aberdeen player to be a regular in the Scotland squad with Jim Leighton, but McKenna already looks like he will be at the heart of the defence for future national teams.

Dons skipper Shinnie has had to be patient for his chance on the international stage. A number of call ups over the past few seasons hadn’t brought a cap, but he finally earned that elusive cap in the tour of the Americas in the summer as he was substituted into the match against World Cup-bound Peru. He would then play the 90 minutes against Mexico later that week. Another note is Graeme missed his “stag do” to join McLeish’s set up in Peru, highlighting his commitment to his country.

With qualification for a major tournament now approaching 21 years, the Nations League offers countries the chance to qualify amongst teams of similar ranking. If Scotland top their group of Israel and Albania they will gain promotion to the next tier and in turn compete in the play-off round against other League C teams with the winner heading to Euro 2020. 

Niall McGinn had also been selected for Northern Ireland’s games against Bosnia & Herzegovina and Austria, but withdrew due to the injury he sustained in the build up to the St Mirren game last week.

SCOTLAND UNDER 18’S

Three Aberdeen players are included in Billy Stark’s U18 squad for friendlies against Uzbekistan and France in Spain. Dean Campbell, Ethan Ross and Archie Mair have all played at U17 level and all three make the jump up due to the reintroduction of the U18 squad. Last season Dean scored both goals in the 2-1 win over Spain, with Ethan and Archie also playing their part. Archie was also the goalkeeper as the U17’s beat Germany in a European Championship qualifier. Last Saturday Ethan made the bench for the Aberdeen first team for the first time and was an unused substitute in the 4-1 win over St Mirren.

Good luck to all the Aberdeen players and the national sides in this weeks fixtures. 

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