SCOTT McDonald says he feels neglected by Australian football and has revealed the reason he believes he never scored in 26 Socceroos appearances.

Motherwell striker McDonald has not been called up for international duty in almost four years despite a consistent run of club form in Scotland and England’s Championship.

But failing to come into consideration under Ange Postecoglou does not surprise the 32-year-old, insisting the snub is symptomatic of a greater issue.

“It doesn’t really concern me to be honest with you,” McDonald told Fox Sports’ European correspondent Daniel Garb.

“(Feeling) neglected is something I’ve become accustomed to with Australian football anyway for a long time.

“Ever since the disappointment of 2010 not going to the World Cup when I’d just moved to Middlesbrough on the back of playing for Celtic in Champions League football … to not go there and for a kid at the time to take your place was hard to take.

Scott McDonald controls the ball during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier match between the Socceroos and Qatar in Brisbane.

“Nothing against the boy who took it it’s just the experience and the level I was playing at, it was a hard one.

An oft-cited reason behind the Victorian’s snub by then Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek was his poor goal scoring record at international level.

McDonald failed to score a single goal in his 26 Socceroos caps, a record that he attributes in part to the conservative Dutch style implemented by Verbeek, his successor Holger Osieck and former FFA technical director Han Berger.

“With the build-up type of play that we played, it’s nice on the eye but sometimes it could be a bit slow for my liking,” McDonald said.

“You want it in there early as a smaller guy, you’re looking to try and get ahead of people and get the ball in the box.

“But we would come out the other way, come out the other way and you were still waiting for something to happen.”

Scott McDonald of Motherwell celebrates scoring a goal.

McDonald found himself caught in a perfect storm — a player under intense scrutiny, constantly in and out of the side, unable to settle in an unsuitable system and all the while desperately searching for a drought-breaking goal.

“I’m not on the defensive about it. I’m one of those guys that looks and goes ‘yep, there’s no-one more disappointed than me not to score,’” he said

“Every game it would build up and build up and it would always be the question that would be asked.

“The biggest issue I had with it was that I didn’t have a consistent run throughout my time playing for the national team. You’d be in one, out for the next one, in one, out for two.

“In saying that though not everyone has that. Even at the top level there’s players who take those chances so I can’t really complain about that.”

And while his international record does not do his ability justice, McDonald continues to produce in the Scottish Premier League and believes he could produce the goods in the green and gold should an unlikely call up eventuate.

“Do I think I could still do a job? Of course I could,” he said.

“You need to have people looking at you first for that to be recognised but I don’t really see that as being the case.”