With Scotland well placed to qualify for Euro 2008, McDonald could be forgiven if he was feeling jealous pangs while several of his club-mates prepare for crunch games against Ukraine and Georgia.

McDonald's parents are both Scottish, but the little striker resisted overtures from the SFA when he was at Motherwell, choosing to concentrate on winning a place in the Socceroos squad.

He was born and raised in Australia, and the former Southampton player said: "I have no regrets at all.

"There was an opportunity for me (to play for Scotland) but I'm a born and bred Australian.

"Obviously my parents are Scottish and I have a lot of ties here.

"I was brought up as a Celtic supporter and came back and forth.

"But I didn't think twice about changing countries.

"I started playing football in Australia, it was the country where I was born and where I lived as a child.

"I love going back. I have fond memories and representing my country has been one of the proudest moment for me.

"It's a massive thing playing for your country, and when you look back at your career, it's always nice to see how many caps you have and how successful you have been.

"Obviously Australia's aim is to make the 2010 World Cup and if I can make that squad and we can qualify, it will be a massive feat."

McDonald hopes his Clydesdale Bank Premier League Player of the Month award, which he picked up today at Celtic Park, will finally silence his doubters.

There were plenty of those when the former Motherwell player joined in the summer in a $1.7million deal.

However, the Socceroo established himself as a fans' favourite and has scored in his last four games, including a hat-trick against Dundee United and last-gasp winners against AC Milan and Gretna.

Picking up the award for September, McDonald, 24, said: "The award means a lot to me.

"I don't think too many people expected me to play as many games as I have and I have proved a lot of critics wrong.

"I've always had belief in myself. I believe I can play at the highest level and hopefully there is more to come from me.

"I knew it was going to be tough but there was never a doubt in my mind that I could play here.

"You will always have people that will not back you, no matter where you are so it's always nice to shut those critics up."

McDonald is one of the few people at Celtic Park who has not welcomed the break for international week.

"I don't think I could have expected to start as well as I have." he said.

"It's been a great start. The goals didn't flow as quickly as I would have liked in the beginning but I have started to get my strikes in the last couple of weeks.

"It's the first time I've scored in four consecutive games so it's a great run I'm on and it's a shame it's been stopped.

"The international break has come at the wrong time for me personally but for the club, it's probably a good thing because we have a lot of injuries."