Nottingham Forest and Scotland have Scott McKenna on emotional rollercoaster

As a result of Scotland's World Cup exit, the enormity of playing in the top flight has yet to sink in.

The centre-half joined the national squad the day after Forest's win.

He was overjoyed when Scotland lost against Ukraine.

It didn't sink in for a few days after the game at Wembley.

I was up here on the Monday to meet up with the squad, so it's not something I've thought about a lot.

The focus was on the Scotland camp and everyone was disappointed. We've moved on from the lowest dressing room we've seen.

In the play-off semi-final, Liam Cooper started on the left side of the central defence in place of an injured Kieran Tierney, and that was the only change to the starting line-up.

The head coach says he will change his squad for the Nations League trio of games.

"It's always going to be difficult to get into the left side of a back three with the quality he has, and there are also very capable players in that position."

I am very happy to be in the squad and I hope that I can do well if given the chance.

Next season will be McKenna's first in the premier league.

"It's something every kid dreams of, so to get to that sort of level, I want to stay in the Forest team and hopefully experience a few games at that level," he said.

Since his transfer from Aberdeen, McKenna says he has progressed because of different styles of play and more demands on him.

"You just need to be more focused at all times, because there's more onus on me to play out from the back," he said.

'He'll have to step up his game again'

The centre-half has had such a great season that he is delighted by the fact that he has taken the next step in his career.

It looked like it was going to take him a long time to get up to speed.

He ends up with promotion to the English premier league, which is fantastic and a challenge for him next season.

"He's going to have to step up his game again, which he did this year, and if he continues to improve then it's great for Scott and great for Scotland."