McKenna keen to reward Clarke loyalty at World Cup

Scott McKenna could reach a half-century of caps this summer [SNS] Scott McKenna hopes to reward Scotland coach Steve Clarke's loyalty and help the national team make history at this summer's World Cup. Dinamo Zagreb defender McKenna, 29, has just won his first Croatian top-flight title and could finish the season as a national cup winner, too, with Zagreb facing Rijeka in the final. The former Aberdeen, Nottingham Forest and Las Palmas player is one cap away from his 50th senior international appearance and is expected to be part of Clarke's squad as Scotland bid to progress from the first round for the first time.

"The biggest thing with the manager is consistency and trust," McKenna told BBC Scotland. "When I came in, I was still at Aberdeen, still making a lot of mistakes. He stood by me.

Pretty much every camp I've been fit, he's picked me and kept me in the squad. "Every game I play, I try and do well for myself, the team but also for the manager just to try and repay him that little bit for everything he's done for me. " Get out the group - duo on Scots' World Cup hopes Scotland confirm final World Cup warm-up against Bolivia - live on BBC Clarke's future beyond the World Cup is uncertain, with his contract running out and nothing agreed over a possible new deal.

After final warm-ups at home to Curacao (30 May) and against Bolivia in New Jersey, Scotland will face Haiti (14 June), Morocco (19 June) and Brazil (24 June) in Group C, with the first two fixtures in Massachusetts and the latter in Florida. "I hope that he continues as manager for everything that he's done for me but also for us as a squad and the loyalty he's shown to me," McKenna explained. "Everyone will be looking at that first game as the one that we probably have the biggest chance to get three points.