Kevin McDonald is convinced he still has ‘a couple of years left’ in the game after penning a short-term deal with Exeter City.
The Scotland cap has had to rebuild his career after undergoing a kidney transplant in May 2021, when he received a donation from brother Fraser.
After subsequently being released by Fulham, the former Dundee, Burnley and Wolves player went on to sign a short-term contract with Dundee United last February.
The 34-year-old proved his fitness with seven starts in 11 appearances for the Tangerines but was freed last summer and has been without a club since then.
However, the experienced midfielder has joined Gary Caldwell’s Exeter for the remainder of the campaign and believes he still has a significant contribution to make on the field as well as off it.
He said: “First of all, I’m not finished playing, I know I’ve got a couple of years left in me.
“I’ve already done coaching badges and it’s something I’ve always been keen on, helping younger guys.
“More in the sense of playing with them just now and helping the guys around me.
“But, at the same time, I don’t mind the coaching side. I’ve got experience in that as well.
“It can only be beneficial for the young guys, it can only be beneficial for me, and for the manager of the club.
“In any way I can help, on or off the pitch, it’s no problem.”
McDonald has confessed to some difficult times before and after his transplant but is thrilled to still be able to pull on his boots and play football.
In an interview with Exeter City, he added: “It was tough, it was, but once I got out of that period of being in hospital and things, it was ‘right, okay’ and I slowly got back to it and I thought to myself, ‘I feel much better now and I can get back playing here, it’s not an issue’.
“Once anyone puts their mind to anything, if it’s possible, then you’re going to make it happen, and that’s what we did.
“We’re here now, I’m glad to get sorted and settled and I’ll look to kick on.
“From a kidney point of view, now I’m the same as everyone else - I’ve had a kidney transplant so of course it’s different!
“But it’s down to work and I’m grateful to be able to play again. First and foremost that’s it.
“It was a tough journey but a journey that was well worth it.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here