SCOTLAND UNDER 21s hero Connor McLennan said it was no shock that Scot Gemmill's side stunned Croatia in their Euro 2021 qualifier and is delighted his double handed the nation a much-needed pick-me-up.

The Aberdeen winger came on for the last 11 minutes in Sibenik with the young Scots trailing to an early goal from the Croatian hosts.

But McLennan arrived to deliver an immediate impact by netting a brace to secure a fantastic victory against the Pot One side, whose senior team reached the World Cup final last year. The unexpected win was a huge boost after a dismal week for the full team.

The 19-year-old reckons Gemmill gave the players belief they could go and win and make it two wins out of two, after a routine victory against San Marino last week.

He said: "It was a mad 10 minutes or so for me. We executed the game plan perfectly and we all knew that as long as we could stay in the game we would always get chances.

"It was a massive win and it gives us enormous confidence going into the rest of the qualifiers, but we weren't surprised at the result. Scot and the rest of the coaching staff put a huge amount of work into the preparations for the game. We all knew what we had to do. He didn't leave anything out. We all knew every one of their players, we knew they were a quality team from Pot One. We knew there would be spells where we wouldn't have the ball, but we had a game plan and it worked out perfectly.

"I think the whole second half we showed we came more into the game and as soon as we got the goal everyone felt the momentum. Croatia didn’t know what hit them.

"They had a boy in their team against us who was part of their World Cup squad so that gives you an idea what we are up against. We had to handle that quality of players so that makes it a massive result for us.

"Hopefully, that's given everyone a boost because it was a bit of a dull week. We were at the game against Russia and watched the Belgium game. I saw obviously that a few fans weren't happy, but hopefully that's given everyone a spark.

"I must admit my phone was blowing up after the game. I didn’t get to sleep until late after I’d replied to all the messages. We’ve done all we could do. Six out of six points is brilliant having beaten the Pot One side and it gives us confidence going into the next games."

McLennan will now concentrate on securing a regular starting slot at Pittodrie starting with Saturday's encounter with St Johnstone, which will see him be reunited with an old colleague, Stevie May.

He said: "It will be great to see Stevie May back at Pittodrie. He's a brilliant guy. He was a massive figure in the changing room and everyone could see he worked his socks off for the team, the fans and Aberdeen. It’s just sad it didn’t work out for him.

"For me, I'm not long back after an injury. I'm just trying to get as much game time as I can and make an impact. It won't do me any harm scoring here."

Meanwhile, Chelsea wonderkid Billy Gilmour will undergo a scan to discover the extent of a groin injury that kept him out of the win this week in Dalmatia. The former Rangers midfielder picked up a knock in training before the game and will return to Stamford Bridge for tests, after he made his first team breakthrough with the London club last week and was named in their Champions League squad this week.

Under 21s boss Gemmill is hoping the results come back positively for the 18-year-old.

He said: "Billy Gilmour got injured in training before the game.

"We obviously wish him a speedy recovery. It's come at a really bad time for him since he's just made his debut for Chelsea. Everyone was gutted for him.

"If I put my manager's hat on it was another opportunity for a different player, but when any player gets injured the night before the game at training at the stadium then of course it was a huge blow."