McDonald bullish U-21s can sprout wings in Falkirk

Published on Wednesday 1 April 2009 09:45

SCOTLAND Under-21 midfielder Kevin McDonald is eager to build on a flying start to the country's European Championship qualifying campaign when they face Albania for the second time in five days tonight.

A late penalty from Chris Maguire gave Billy Stark's youngsters a winning start to their UEFA Under-21 Championship group on Saturday.

The Albanians will be seeking revenge at the Falkirk Stadium this evening but McDonald is determined not to let pass the opportunity to get a head start on other group rivals Austria, Azerbaijan and Belarus.

The Burnley midfielder said: "It was a tough game. They were a good team. We need to stick to our game plan now.

"We've done the hard bit, going away from home and getting three points. We have to take that back here.

"It's a massive opportunity for us to get six points from two games. Not many teams will have six points from their first two games so that would set us up for a good campaign." Unlike most of the Scotland team that won 1-0 in Elbasan, 20-year-old McDonald had played a competitive match for the Under-21s.

Stark has urged him, along with the likes of Falkirk pair Thomas Scobbie and Scott Arfield and Dundee United's Paul Caddis, to pass on their experience to the younger players. McDonald, though, is confident the team spirit emerging in the camp can compensate for any lack of game time.

The former Dundee player said: "That's what Billy said, that me and Arfield, Scobbie and Caddis have been there before so we've got to pass on our experience to the rest of the boys.

"I'm sure we'll be able to do that but they can help us out as well because we're all still young, we're all still learning in this squad.

"The younger players who have come up have done well and everyone has chipped in to get the three points.

"The team is bonding well and there are not any players in the team that don't like each other. I don't think so anyway! It's a good set of lads, like last year."