Aberdeen attacker Connor McLennan is looking to build on the “massive” confidence boost which came from his Scotland Under-21 double.
The 19-year-old came off the bench on Tuesday with the young Scots trailing 1-0 in Croatia to score twice in a sensational late comeback.
McLennan’s double against the top seeds made it two wins out of two in Group D of the Euro Under-21 Championship qualifiers and now he wants to take that encouragement into his Dons form as he looks to get his domestic season up and running after making only one start in four appearances.
Ahead of the visit of St Johnstone in the Ladbrokes Premiership on Saturday, he told REDTV: “I was out with injury at the start of the season, I have been in and out but hopefully I can kick on now.
“I have got to try and do that, anyway.
“It was a good week away. Even being named in the squad was a bit of a boost anyway so hopefully I can kick on now. I look forward to Saturday.”
The Dons go into the game on a high following a 3-0 win over Ross County at Pittodrie in their last outing before the international break.
It was a performance which pleased manager Derek McInnes and he is looking for it to be replicated against the Perth men.
He said: “For us we want a similar type of approach, in terms of trying to be braver with our work, more positive with our work, more aggressive with our work, more movement in the forward areas, more crosses in the box, better at set plays as we were in that game.
“All in all, a lot of what we were asking and looking for from the team against Ross County we got and hopefully we get a similar type of performance and hopefully a similar result.”
Tommy Wright’s men have only won once this season – a Betfred Cup tie against Brechin City – and their 1-0 defeat at Kilmarnock in their last match followed draws against Hibernian and Livingston.
However, McInnes is preparing for the McDiarmid Park side to be at their best.
He said: “They had a good away performance at Easter Road a couple of weeks ago and although they lost last time out against Kilmarnock, I think that a lot of that performance that he had against Hibs will be what he will be looking for coming here. They were well worthy of their point in that game.
“We are well aware of their strengths. Watching that game back against Hibs, I felt it was a very St Johnstone type of performance, full of togetherness, kept going, good play, good attacking threat with plenty of bodies in the box.
“When St Johnstone are at their best, as St Johnstone are capable of being, they are a tough opponent.”
