Aberdeen defender Angus MacDonald should take inspiration from Andrew Considine in his bid for a Scotland call-up.
Centre-back MacDonald recently revealed he has set his sights on working his way into Scotland boss Steve Clarke’s squad.
Although born in England, MacDonald qualifies for Scotland through his grandfather from Inverness.
The Dons centre-back is right to target a call-up to the Scotland international squad as his form has been at a very high level.
MacDonald may be 30 years old, but you are never too old to put forward a case for international selection.
Just look at former Aberdeen defender Considine, who was into his 30s when he earned his first Scotland cap.
Considine, now at St Johnstone. was 33 when he made his Scotland debut in a 1-0 defeat of Slovakia at Hampden in October 2020.
MacDonald’s performances have been at a good level since signing for Aberdeen late on in the January transfer window.
About five years ago, MacDonald on current form would be a shoo-in for a spot in the Scotland squad.
However, national boss Clarke now has a number of very good centre-backs to call upon.
For that reason, MacDonald will find it tough, but not impossible, to break into the Scotland squad.
Scotland manager Clarke was at Pittodrie for the 2-0 win over Rangers two weeks ago.
Helping Aberdeen secure a clean sheet and win in that game in front of the national boss will have helped MacDonald’s chances of being selected.
I am sure Clarke will be aware that the Aberdeen defender qualifies to play for Scotland.
MacDonald is impressing in a team that are playing well.
He is, barring the 1-0 loss at Rangers on Sunday, playing in a side who are delivering wins.
MacDonald is impressing in an Aberdeen side that look to be going somewhere under manager Barry Robson.
His current performances are at a level which would merit Clarke having a look at MacDonald and possibly giving him the chance at international level.
During his time at Pittodrie, MacDonald has impressed as a defender and leader.
He is also a communicator and organiser which is really important.
When you put that package together, along with his experience, I think Clarke will keep him very much in mind.
My advice to MacDonald is just keep the form he is showing for Aberdeen going.
That is the best way.
MacDonald delivered another strong shift in the narrow defeat to Rangers at Ibrox on Sunday.
It ended the Dons’ impressive winning streak, which had extended to seven games.
Aberdeen’s run of five games without conceding a goal also ended.
The right organisation and attitude were all there from Aberdeen in Glasgow at the weekend.
They were set up to make life difficult for Rangers and to hit them on the break.
They certainly did that and had two great opportunities to score through Duk in the first-half when it was 0-0.
Unfortunately Duk, who has been so impressive all season, didn’t take those chances and it was costly.
Ultimately Aberdeen were undone by an exceptional goal from Todd Cantwell.
It was a superb strike, but there will be a sense of frustration within the Aberdeen camp that their clean sheet run ended with a goal from a corner.
Even though it was a defeat, manager Barry Robson can be happy with the performance.
When you compare it to the Dons’ last trip to Ibrox under former manager Jim Goodwin, it was night and day.
In losing 4-1 in October last November, the Dons were unbelievably bad in terms of organisation and defensive capabilities.
There has been a fair bit of progress since then.
Where was VAR in Duk incident?
The challenge by Connor Goldson on Aberdeen striker Duk at Ibrox should definitely have been the subject of a VAR review.
Dons manager Barry Robson was frustrated there was no VAR check over the incident and I can understand why.
It looked like a foul on Duk and should have been reviewed.
I think the challenge by Goldson started outside the box, but carried on into it.
Perhaps Duk was too honest as Goldson put his arms around the striker and dragged him down, but then Duk bounced straight back up.
Duk has been superb in a season where he has netted 18 goals in all competitions.
However. my advice to him is when you are wrestled to the ground like that, stay down.
If he had stayed down on that occasion it makes referee John Beaton have to think about it a bit more.
It also forces VAR to have to think about it as well.
I’m not in any way suggesting anyone should dive in football.
But you have a legitimate reason to stay down when wrestled to the ground.
I think if Duk had stayed down, then VAR may have come in and asked the referee to review it.
Why VAR didn’t come into play, I can only assume they didn’t think it was a clear and obvious mistake by the referee.
It should have at least been a foul and a potential penalty review.
The biggest game of the season
Aberdeen’s clash with Hibs at Pittodrie on Saturday is the biggest game of the season, as a win would be a massive step towards finishing third.
If the Reds can secure three points, it will put them in a very strong position ahead of travelling to fourth-placed Hearts next weekend.
Currently in third, the Dons have a five-point advantage over the Jambos.
If they can win on Saturday they can travel to Tynecastle on a high.
Hibs will also have aspirations of still finishing third as they are only a point behind Hearts.
Beating Hibs at Pittodrie will effectively rule them out of the race for third and reduce it to a two team shoot-out between Aberdeen and Hearts.
If Aberdeen win on Saturday, it will pile the pressure on their Tynecastle rivals.
Winning the back-t0-back games against the Edinburgh teams will be enough to close out a best-of-the-rest finish and complete a remarkable transformation in fortunes under manager Barry Robson.
Only three months ago, the Dons were in the bottom six and struggling badly.
Then Robson was placed in interim charge and turned everything around.
Now. they are in pole position to finish behind Celtic and Rangers and secure a return to Europe.
It is there for the taking – now Aberdeen have to finish the job.
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