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McDonald gutted to miss Scotland ties

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Wolves midfielder Kevin McDonald has expressed his disappointment over being forced to withdraw from the Scotland squad through injury.

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Gordon Strachan's side face two crucial Euro 2016 qualifiers against Poland and Gibraltar.

With Albion's James Morrison suspended for the Poland clash, McDonald may have been in line for his international debut after he was rewarded with a call-up for his sparkling Wolves form.

But a lower back injury – a problem that has dogged McDonald in recent weeks – flared up and he is back at Compton Park receiving treatment.

McDonald is now targeting a return to full fitness in the hope he will get the national call again next time.

The 26-year-old said: "Every chance you get to go and play for your country is an honour, I was looking forward to it but this time it wasn't meant to be.

"It's disappointing to get a little knock and take that chance away. But I feel like I need to get my body right so I can get the best out of myself and the best for everyone involved.

"I'll have a long, hard week with the physios to try and improve myself and, when it comes round next time, then maybe I'll get the chance again."

Since signing a new contract last month, McDonald has been back to his very best for Wolves.

He was lauded for his Man of the Match display in Saturday's 3-0 victory over Huddersfield, in which he scored his third goal in seven games – after being scoreless for the whole of 2014-15.

The Scot is keen to keep his form going when Wolves return to action a week on Sunday.

He said: "I've needed to add more of that to my game,. Luckily enough I have done so far this season.

"Since everything with my contract was sorted and everybody knows where my future's at, I've really improved and kicked on so, hopefully, I can continue in that form.

"As the gaffer told me, instead of trying to lash at the ball, like Benik Afobe and people who are good at that do, I need to try and pass the ball into the net.

"That's kind of the way I've done it recently, I've started doing that more often and it's starting to pay off.

"Hopefully the shooting stays good and hopefully we'll get a few more goals through it this season."

As for the team, McDonald has echoed the thoughts of Jackett in saying that international break is bad timing.

He said: "Sometimes that can happen, sometimes if you're losing then the international break's a good thing.

"But, if you're winning, then you don't really want it, you want to keep playing week in, week out.

"We'll have a couple of days off, it's always nice to have a little break as well. It gives you time to get your legs back because we've played five games in 15 days so everyone's a little fatigued.

"It's a good time to get the boys in and we'll be refreshed. We've got a bit time to work on things and I know the head coach wants to do a few things out there."

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