Aberdeen midfielder Lewis Ferguson has piled praise on his teammate Scott McKenna after the way he handled his transfer request.
The defender handed in the request in order to try and force through a move south of the border (BBC). It never happened though and the centre-back is with Aberdeen until at least January now.
Despite all the speculation surrounding him, Ferguson has been impressed by the way his Dons teammate handled it all.
He told the National: ” He’s been different class for us. It’s a big boost for us that he’s staying because there was a lot of interest in him. He’s been playing week in, week out for Aberdeen and for Scotland so there was no doubt he would attract interest.
“It was up to him and the club. There was a transfer request, but you didn’t see that in his performances. Maybe if someone else put in a transfer request, their performances might have dipped, but he kept going and gave everything and that’s all we could have asked for.
“It’s not up to us whether he wanted to go or wanted to stay. The only thing that mattered was him putting 100 per cent in and he did that.”
McKenna deserves praise for Aberdeen performances
He’s out with injury right now, but McKenna does deserve some praise for not throwing the towel in after his request.
It would be easy for him to lie down and wait for his move down south or elsewhere. Instead he has rolled up his sleeves and prepared for work.
McKenna has already featured ten times for Derek McInnes this season. It’s clear that he wants to earn his move rather than wait on the sidelines for his exit.
If Ferguson’s comments are anything to go by then his teammates appreciate that too. McKenna is arguably their best player and is certainly their best defender, so it’ll be a big blow for them once he does leave.
For now though he has his head down at Aberdeen and seems content about doing his job until the time comes for him to move on from Pittodrie.