McDonald's international prospects soared after switching to the Scottish Premier League, initially with Motherwell and later with Celtic.

McClenahan, now enjoying his football with Hamilton Academicals, hopes it proves that playing in the top flight of Scottish football is good enough to attract Pim Verbeek's eye.

The former Hereford United man told Times Online: "My game has definitely improved since I began playing in Scotland. Coming to Hamilton is another step forward in my career.

"Even in training at Hamilton, I could see right away that the standard and tempo were far higher than Hereford. I feel that in seven months here, my game has come on. The standard in the SPL is really good and it forces you to improve."

McClenahan says McDonald's success for Celtic has certainly helped raise the SPL's profile in Australia and that can only aid his own chances of pulling on the green and gold.

"There is more media coverage back home of the SPL because he's here, and so is Danny Invincibile at Kilmarnock. Hopefully, we can get get a good run in the Scottish Cup and Hamilton can get some more exposure. That would help my case," said McClenahan.

However, the Hamilton man accepts the competition for an international spot just gets tougher and tougher.

He said: "Every player wants to play for their country and I want do it for Australia at the highest level. However, the depth of Australia's squad now compared to ten years ago has really improved.

"You have to be playing in Europe and you have be playing well to catch the eye. We have players in almost every league in Europe and it's why all of us come here at a young age to try to make a career."

Trent did his cause no harm this weekend as Hamilton advanced to the next round of the Scottish Cup after a 2-1 win over Dundee United.