Andrew McDonald is in the dark as to when he will be able to make his debut for new club Peterhead.
The defender joined the Blue Toon at the weekend, but on Monday all football below the Championship was suspended until the end of January at the earliest.
McDonald understands the reasons behind the shutdown of lower league football in Scotland, but had been looking forward to making a positive impression at the Buchan outfit.
Peterhead were scheduled to face Stenhousemuir in the second round of the Scottish Cup last night before Monday’s suspension announcement.
McDonald, 22, said: “I don’t know when I’ll get to make my debut. I was looking forward to last night’s game, but the announcement came on Monday which stopped things.
“It was a bit gutting for everyone involved, but particularly for me because I’ve joined a new club but haven’t had a chance to play for them yet.
“I understand why the decision was taken and the health of everyone comes first.
“But there’s not really much we can do now in terms of when we might be able to get back playing.
“I was looking forward to playing for Peterhead and hopefully we can get a wee bit of normality back sooner rather than later.”
When the easing of Covid-19 restrictions does allow McDonald to make his Blue Toon bow he is aiming to establish himself as a regular in Jim McInally’s side.
The former Elgin City, Stranraer and St Mirren man added: “I’m confident in myself and confident in my ability that once I get a chance to play I will give a good account of myself.
“Hopefully I can force myself into the team and play every week when we do return.
“When everyone is available there will be plenty of competition and there’s good players at the club.
“But it’s up to myself, if I get a chance then I need to take it and do the best I can to keep my place.”
McDonald played for Elgin last season before joining West of Scotland League Conference B side St Cadoc’s during the summer.
However, he returned to Borough Briggs – where he also had a spell on loan during the 2017-18 season – on loan in October.
Reflecting on his time with the Black and Whites, McDonald said: “I really enjoyed my time at Elgin, it’s a really good group of boys.
“It was an enjoyable time and playing with the guys there and working under Gavin Price and Keith Gibson was really good.
“I’ve got nothing but good things to say about Elgin after my time there.”
With his loan at Elgin up and having left St Cadoc’s the opportunity to step up into League One with Peterhead appealed to McDonald.
He said: “It’s a really good group of players and I felt training with them and potentially playing with them would help me improve.
“That was what attracted me really was the chance to play with a good set of players who could help make me better.
“Playing in League One is another step up for me and a test for me.
“The way to get better is to play against better players and I think that’s what I’ll be doing in League One.”
