A 1-0 win for McKenna’s club over Hudderfield in the Championship final at Wembley on Sunday evening secured the once-time powerhouse name in the British game a return to the English top flight for the first time in 23 years. And the success would also have been celebrated in the Pittodrie boardroom thanks to a promotion clause entered into the £3m deal agreed when the centre-back swapped Aberdeen for the East Midlands in September 2020.
McKenna has certainly earned his old team that bounty courtesy of a string of authoritative displays - he missed only one of the 49 games played by the club during their league and play-off campaigns - that culminated in a rock-solid showing in the decider.
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Hide AdAn integral component of a backline responsible for Forest’s best defensive performance in a season since their 1978 title win under Brian Clough, McKenna will now immediately have to switch his attentions to Scotland’s World Cup play-off semi-final against Ukraine on Wednesday. For that the 25-year-old could be asked by Steve Clarke to fill the left-side berth in his back three with injury depriving him of the services of Arsenal’s Kieran Tierney for the role.