Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Aberdeen’s Andy Considine aiming for perfect start to World Cup bid for Scotland

Andy Considine, right, with new Scotland team-mate Che Adams.
Andy Considine, right, with new Scotland team-mate Che Adams.

Andy Considine is targeting a perfect start for Scotland as he sets his sights on taking nine points from the opening three games of their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign.

Scotland face Austria at Hampden tomorrow, followed by a trip to Israel on Sunday, before the Faroe Islands visit Hampden on Wednesday next week, and the Aberdeen defender believes the national team can get their bid to reach Qatar off to a flying start.

He said: “It’s vitally important to win the home games. Winning at Hampden is a must, absolutely. But I feel like we’re due Israel one, because I felt that we had a couple of good chances over there but just didn’t take them.

“They go up the park and score, and I felt as though it was against the run of play. I feel we’re due them one, but it will be tough going over there. But if you look at our squad, I feel we’re definitely strong enough to get hopefully three wins.

“I think if we can come away with three wins or a couple wins and a draw, it would be a fantastic start. We’d take that right now. But it’s going to be hard.

“Austria will be tough and Israel seem to follow us about at the minute and they’re a good team. You can’t knock them, they’re good. That’ll be really tough.

“The Faroe Islands will be tough as well. It’s the same three points. It’s a massive 10 days for the boys, but I feel we’ve got enough in the squad that we can go and do that.”

There have been a couple of new faces added to Steve Clarke’s squad since the national team last played in Southampton striker Che Adams and Kevin Nisbet of Hibernian and Considine is excited to see what his new international team-mates can do.

He said: “I’ve seen plenty of Che. There’s Kevin Nisbet as well, he’s done really well at Hibs. It’s a couple of great additions.

Kevin Nisbet in Scotland training with Andy Considine.

“It just shows you the fine line between being in and out the squad, with Lawrence Shankland dropping out. It’s exciting times for the country, so fingers crossed we can go and get some results.”

For Considine, international football has come late in his career, but the Dons defender, who celebrates his 34th birthday on April 1, has slotted in seamlessly since his debut in October.

Having helped end the country’s long wait to play in the finals of a major tournament following Scotland’s qualification for the Euros, the Aberdonian is now targeting an even bigger prize of World Cup qualification.

But whatever happens, he is proud just to be involved.

He said: “It would probably mean even more (to play at a World Cup) than what’s potentially coming this summer. It would be absolutely huge for all the boys and, for everybody in the country, it would be incredible to be involved.

“I remember watching the last World Cup we were at on the telly as a young lad, so you can see how much it means to everybody. Fingers crossed.

“I want to be involved as much as I can. But it’s a big squad that the manager’s taken. If called upon, I’ll be ready. But it’s a great time to be involved, especially with the Euros coming up. I’m delighted.”