Mowbray delighted with McDonald
Middlesbrough manager Tony Mowbray revealed how pleased he was with striker Scott McDonald after the striker was involved in the valuable victory at Watford over the weekend.
The Australian came on to score the winner as Boro one for the first time in four games. He provided a spark to the forward line too, something Mowbray was particularly happy with.
The former Baggies boss said: “I'm delighted with him today, I thought he worked hard and has a decent football brain.”
“He played the left, it's not his natural position, but he didn't moan and got the goal that won us the game.”
Football betting pundits will note that it hasn’t all been positive for Mowbray over the last few weeks though. He has only recently returned to the first-term after lengthy discussions about his future. At one point, it seemed as though his career at the Riverside was over.
However, now he is back in the team and back in the goals, both parties can hopefully go from strength to strength. Mowbray certainly hopes so.
“I don't see any issues, for me Scott has shown over the last few weeks he can buy into what we're trying to do, be a part of our squad and be hungry to play.”
“He has to compete with some good players, but if Scott can help the team win football matches he has every chance of getting minutes on the pitch.”
“The test for Scott is the day his number comes up if he starts, or the days when he doesn't even make the bench because everybody is fit and I think other players are going to do the job.”
It certainly seems clear that McDonald needs to work hard to stay in the team or indeed the squad. Perhaps Mowbray still needs a lot of convincing that he is the man to lead Middlesbrough’s line.
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His involvement in the three points at the weekend – which took Boro up to 11th in the Championship - cannot be denied though and perhaps this is the start of a positive run for both the player and the team.
