McManus harbours Scotland hope

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The 20-year-old former Aberdeen forward caught the Cod Army’s eye by scoring 23 times in 34 games during a loan spell with Morton last term and he opted to make the move south of the border by joining Graham Alexander’s men.

Having already represented Scotland at youth level, including the Under-21s, McManus has the goal of one day running out for the Tartan Army’s senior side – just as his new boss Alexander did on 40 occasions.

Speaking to Fleetwood’s YouTube channel, he said: “Hopefully I can manage to come down here and do just as well as I did last season and hopefully that will get me some more recognition and call ups for the 21s.

“My goal here is to match what the manager did and play for Scotland. It’s something I’m striving to do so hopefully I can manage it.”

Fleetwood’s rise up to the third tier of English football has been a sudden one but McManus has been admiring from afar.

The studious forward watched their televised clash with Preston last season when the Cod Army held a side that would win promotion to a 1-1 draw at Highbury.

“I watch a lot of football and the game that sticks out is the Preston game,” he added.

“Obviously they had a very good game and there were some very good goals in the game.

“I study my football and I saw then that Fleetwood was a big club on the up. They’re on the up and that’s the big thing for me.”