One to Watch – Scott McDonald

Melbourne-born Scott McDonald has been pinpointed by Vital QPR as the One to Watch as QPR travel to Middlesbrough on Saturday.

Name: Scott McDonald

Date of Birth: 21/8/1983

Former Clubs: Gippsland Falcons, Cranbourne Comets, Southampton, Huddersfield Town, Bournemouth, Wimbledon, Motherwell, Celtic

Appearances (Goals): 272 (106)

Middlesbrough striker Scott McDonald will be looking to add to his 5 league goals this season, and help Tony Mowbray`s side climb further away from the relegation zone. With a formidable scoring record in the Scottish league, McDonald is finally finding his feet in the Championship and will be have to be watched closely for the Rs to be taking maximum points away from the Riverside.

McDonald started his early youth career in Australia, making appearances for Australian National Soccer League clubs Gippsland Falcons and Cranbourne Comets. He started off as a trainee at Southampton in 2001, but first team opportunities were limited. He had brief loan spells at Huddersfield and Bournemouth managing two league goals over both spells. However, his contract at Southampton ran out and he signed for Wimbledon on a rolling contract in 2003.

He eventually moved to Scotland with Motherwell when he was just 20 years old. Despite a string of impressive performances, his goalscoring credentials were hard to find as he managed just one goal in the second half of the 2003/2004 season. The following season he managed to score 15 goals and he quickly went on to become a prominent goalscoring figure in the Scottish league, managing over 100 appearances and scoring 42 times for The Steelmen.

In March 2007, after a £400,000 bid from Rangers had been rejected in January, Motherwell accepted an offer of £700,000 from McDonald’s boyhood favourites Celtic, with McDonald moving to Celtic Park at the start of the 2007/2008 season. McDonald settled in at Celtic superbly, and went on to achieve an impressive goalscoring record in his 3 years at the club. In 2009 he managed his first domestic cup trophy at Celtic, and he ended up scoring 51 times in the league in only 88 appearances.

McDonald became the fifth Celtic player to join Boro during the January transfer window after Boro completed his transfer from Parkhead on deadline day 2010. He has already managed 9 league goals for his new club and will be looking to spearhead their attack on Saturday.