SCOTT McKenna keeps a clip of the foul on John McGinn that earned him a red card in an Ayr United game against Hibernian five years ago on his mobile phone so he can wind up his Scotland team mate when they report for international duty.
“That tackle is probably still one of the worst ones I’ve made in my career,” said McKenna yesterday as he looked back on the Scottish Cup tie at Easter Road back in 2017. “Thankfully we’ve both managed to move on from it and are both doing okay.
“But I’ve still got the video on the phone to show him when I need to. I keep it because he will tell someone new in nearly every camp that I did it to him. I like to keep the evidence. He’s too strong for me now! It’s great we have both managed to come so far from that day.”
McKenna and McGinn are now playing for Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa respectively in the Premier League and are regulars for the national team as well.
But the defender, who should start in the Group B1 match against the Republic of Ireland at Hampden this evening after helping Scotland to keep a clean sheet in their 3-0 win over Ukraine on Wednesday night, feels the midfielder has taken his game to an entirely different level.
The 27-year-old, who opened the scoring in midweek with 20 minutes remaining to take his tally for his country to 14 to further endear himself to the Tartan Army, will win his 50th cap today and have his name added to the SFA Roll of Honour.
McKenna believes his old sparring partner, who has donned the captain’s armband in the absence of Andy Robertson, is an inspirational figure for his fellow players as well as the fans and can lead the side record a third consecutive victory.
“He is definitely a talismanic figure,” he said. “Whenever you see John in an attacking position you know he’s going to be creative, set up something for someone else or he’s going to score. More times than not he will take those opportunities for us and hopefully that will continue.
“He’s not a massive screamer or shouter in the dressing room as skipper. It’s just the way he leads on the pitch - he will make a forward pass or a tackle and it brings the rest of the boys with him. John leads by example on the pitch rather than words in the dressing room.
“It’s a great milestone to get to 50 caps. He fully deserves it as well. He will go on to make many, many more and hopefully he’ll keep scoring those important goals for us and putting in top performances.”
