Kevin McDonald: Exeter City midfielder always confident he would return from kidney transplant

Kevin McDonald (right) has played four times for Exeter City since his January move from Dundee United

Exeter City's former Scotland midfielder Kevin McDonald says he was always confident he would return to football after a kidney transplant.

The 34-year-old had surgery in May 2021 and last week scored his first goal since returning to action.

The strike against Cambridge United came after a January move to Exeter from Scottish side Dundee United.

"I knew in myself I would get back, I didn't know what level. It was a long process, but worthwhile," he said.

The former Fulham, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Sheffield United and Burnley player had suffered from kidney problems since he was a teenager, but a deterioration in his condition meant he needed a transplant from his brother after he missed the entire 2020-21 season.

"There were times where it was in doubt through different circumstances here and there and little setbacks," he added to BBC Sport.

"There were always going to be times like that, but I prepared myself for that, I prepared my head and myself physically and mentally for setbacks.

"But I think once I'd got over the initial hurdles the sole focus was to get back playing and that was that.

"I've put everything behind me and said 'if you want to go and play now you're going to have to go through some hard work to get back to where you were or somewhere en route to where you were'."

McDonald says despite going through a transplant and re-evaluating whether he could play again, he does not think the experience has changed him.

"Beforehand I was laid back, I've always been that kind of character and after that from a footballing side probably even more so," he added.

"People get caught up in mistakes and defeats and this and that - no one wants to make mistakes, no one wants to play bad, no one wants to lose games.

"But it's part and parcel of football, every single club does it, every single player does it, so you get on with it.

"As long as you try and do the next thing better and you keep trying to improve that's the main thing, and that's the way I've seen it.

"I've always been that way my whole career in football, so I wouldn't say it's changed me, maybe [given me] more perspective."

'The club's definitely going in the right direction'

Kevin McDonald (centre) marked the birth of his daughter when he celebrated his first Exeter City goal

McDonald has won promotion to the Premier League three times in his career - with Burnley in 2009 and twice with Fulham in 2018 and 2020.

He also won five caps for Scotland and helped Wolves claim the 2013-14 League One title.

With that experience, how does he rate this Exeter City side who are currently 12th in League One?

"The club's definitely going in the right direction, you've got a good manager [Gary Caldwell] in charge with a good set of players, a good mixture of youth and experience," McDonald added.

"We've been unfortunate these last few games - I'll stand by that whatever's said, on any other day we could have probably won three or four of the last five or six games.

"There's a lot of good players here and it speaks volumes that we're disappointed coming in after draws and defeats or close games where we should be going and winning.

"The club got promoted last season from League Two so really they are doing well where we're at - at this moment in time, we're probably ahead of schedule as such, but we feel we're behind.

"We feel we should be, maybe not in the play-offs, but we should be seven or eight points further ahead than we are."