Scott McKenna
As the Dons needed to bounce back from the disappointing League Cup defeat, Derek McInnes turned to a fresh blend of youth and experience at the heart of his defence, matching up Kari Arnason with young Scott McKenna. Both were inspirational in a 1-0 win that was all about guts and determination as Motherwell used their physical strength to the full once again. Then on Saturday against St Johnstone, McKenna was once again in great form as he helped his side record back to back clean sheets.
For Scott, it was the chance he has been waiting for and he has seized it with both hands. He spoke to RedMatchday Magazine recently to preview the Scotland U21s game against England on Friday.
“This season I’ve felt that if I was called upon, I was ready to go and do a job for Aberdeen, but you can understand that the manager often wants to go with an experienced back four. Mentally, you have still got to be ready because my opportunity could have come at any point. So even when I was playing U20 games, I have that focus and treated it like a first team game. I prepared the same way I would for a first team game. I had to keep making sure I was ready and had to keep impressing the manager in training.
“I could have gone out on loan during the window but the manager said he was happy with the way I was playing and he was happy to have me around the place, and that was encouraging and give me a sense that I might get an opportunity sooner or later.
“I was delighted it came against Motherwell.
“I only found out I was playing about an hour and a half before kick-off. We had a team meeting before getting the bus to the stadium. The team got named then. I didn’t really have time to get nervous! It was more excitement than anything else. I have waited a long time for my chance so I was ready to show everyone what I can do.
“Kari has been a big help. Even just training everyday alongside Kari, you learn a lot from him. He is always talking to me and encouraging me. He is older than I am and has played a lot of games, I’m just trying to learn as much as I can from him. It is great having someone like him at the club.
“The manager has always said I would get a chance and hopefully I repaid the faith he showed in me. He has always given me a lot of support.
“It was nice to hear that Willie Miller on the radio was saying nice things about me too. It gives you confidence when someone who played in my position and someone who was so good says that. I worked with Willie a bit when he was at the club, because he would help out with the U15s and U17s.”
While the Motherwell game got plenty of coverage, Scott has already played a big part in an important win for the country that got rather less press. After years of talking our game down, Scotland U21s’ 2-0 win over the Netherlands last month in their opening Under-21 Euro 2019 qualifying campaign was a victory that underlines the strides made in producing fresh footballing talent in this country. Too early to open the champagne just yet perhaps, but it was nonetheless a real sign that our youngsters are closing the gap.
Although Scotland compete well at the younger youth levels, the U21s have struggled badly in recent years. For example when Scotland and the Netherlands met at this level in the race for the Euro 2015, the Dutch won those two meetings 10-1 on aggregate. No such chasm in class was evident earlier this month.
Captain Oliver Burke was on target as the West Brom forward powered in the opening goal. Stevie Mallan then fired home when the Dutch defence blundered to present the Barnsley man with a one-on-one chance. For the Dons, Scott Wright was a second half substitute whilst Aberdeen defender Scott McKenna was a rock in defence.
Scott Gemmill’s side have another massive test coming up when they play England later this week, but it's a game McKenna is looking forward to.
“When you look at their squad, they have got a lot of players who are playing at a high level in the English Premier League. The England U20 side won the World Cup in the summer and many of those players are in this squad. But there is no reason why, if we play like we did against the Dutch, that we can’t get something from the game.
“The strikers in their squad include Tammy Abraham, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Dominic Solanke. They are top players, but as a defender you can’t be worrying about that. As a team we also just need to go and play our own game and not get phased by who we are playing.
“For the Dutch game, we met up on the Thursday even though the game was on the following Tuesday. We spent a lot of that time doing video analysis work and watching them. We worked on how we would set up and play. We spent a lot of time working on the detail of how we would set up at corners, goal kicks, even throw-ins, everything like that. The coach got it spot-on on the night.
“I don’t think Holland enjoyed the game one bit and everything we worked on and practiced in training came off perfectly and we ran out deserved winners. We stopped them playing out from the back. We forced them to play a game they did not want to play. We did that for the majority of the game. We did not let them out and they struggled to implement a plan B.
“The result also shows it is not always all about playing total football. There ways to go and grind out results. Although saying that, we played some good football on the night. It is certainly up there as one of the best games of my career so far.
“To get the call up was a bit of a shock as at that point I not played any first team football for a while. Most of the boys in the squad are playing first team football regularly. It was maybe a position they were struggling with a bit and I have also played with John Souttar at U19 level and we have a good record together. We kept that good record going against the Dutch by getting the clean sheet.
“It just seems to work well between the two of us. He is a very good football player and good on the ball. I am more of an out and out defender. He lets me win the headers and I just give him the ball! John has played far more first team games than I have and that is what I aim to do in the future.
“I know a lot of the boys in the squad. Some of them were involved with me at U19 level and we have all come through different youth academies and played against each other since we were very young.
“It is only the second time I have worked with Scott Gemmill. In terms of tactics and his instructions and explanations of what he wanted us to do, it was absolutely spot on. The boys have a lot of respect for him.
“Next week, we play England at the Riverside in Middlesbrough and then we also play Latvia.”
The last time the Scotland met England at this level was in 2013. England hammered Scotland 6-0, which led to another inquest in the media about the game north of the border. The England team included Jack Butland, John Stones, Jonjo Shelvey, Connor Wickham, and Raheem Sterling. Ross Barkley and Harry Kane were amongst the subs, not a bad line up….
Ryan Jack, Clark Robertson and Fraser Fyvie were in the Scotland side as well as Stuart Armstrong, whilst Stevie May came off the bench.
“The last time we played England, I know we were well beaten. But the last time we played Holland it was also a very high score, so already this group have improved on our past record. Holland and England drew 1-1 as well, so we can go into the game with confidence on the back of our last result.”
Domestically, Scott last season spent last season on loan at Somerset Park. Although Ayr were eventually relegated, it was an important season of learning for the young defender.
“My loan spell at Ayr started off well and I played something like ten games in a row. I then signed an extension till the end of the season but was then in and out of the team, that was just the way it was working. I then got sent off against Hibs in the Scottish Cup which didn't help.
“It was a tough season with the results, but I learnt a lot from the experience. I knew I was not playing well enough so I could not argue when I got dropped. There were boys playing better than me who deserved to be playing ahead of me. That is the way football is. You just need to get your head down and get on with it. It was a tough spell but a good education.
“The season before was even tougher because of my health problems. When I was out for the three months, there was a lot of uncertainty. You do think about things like not playing again and needing to go and get a real job. It was a tough spell but again I am stronger for the experience.
“Now, having got a couple of games under my belt, hopefully I can stay in the mix for more starts in the first team along with all the other players we have pressing for a chance”.
Please be advised of the following international team selections(s):
Player(s) Name: Scott McKenna & Scott Wright Country: Scotland Competition: U21 UEFA Championship Qualifiers
Match Details: England v Scotland Friday 6th October 2017 Riverside Staidum, Middlesbrough Kick-off 7.45pm
Match Details: Latvia v Scotland Tuesday 10th October Daugava Liep?ja, Liepaja Kick-off 6.00pm
Match Details: Latvia v Scotland Tuesday 10th October Daugava Liep?ja, Liepaja Kick-off 6.00pm
