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A year ago, Scott Mc Kenna couldn't get a game for Nottingham Forest. Fast forward to today and the Scottish defender has traded the River Trent for a sunny Spanish island and he's kept superstars Robert Lewandowski and Kylian Mbappe at bay. Eyebrows were raised when Mc Kenna was announced as La Liga minnows Las Palmas' latest signing in August given the majority of his career had been spent only in Scotland and England. Remarkably he wasn't the first Scottish international to join Las Palmas in the summer, with former Sheffield United and Swansea striker Oli Mc Burnie arriving just before. Speaking exclusively to talk SPORT, Mc Kenna opened up on how he wound up moving from Nottingham to the Canary Islands. "In the summer, I had a few options, " Mc Kenna said. "Time was going on and teams were back in pre-season. I felt like I had to make a decision and this was one that really excited me. "A chance to play in a top league and against Barcelona and Real Madrid, these sorts of games are ones you can't really refuse the opportunity to try and be part of. " Unsurprisingly, Mc Burnie had a role in persuading him to make the move. "He (Mc Burnie) spoke about how good the people were and the club were and that helped make my decision, " Mc Kenna said. Mc Kenna only had to wait just three games before he got to enjoy one of the marquee fixtures that convinced him to join, as Las Palmas welcomed Real Madrid in the third game of the campaign. Las Palmas hadn't recorded a win by that point having drawn 2-2 with Sevilla and losing 2-1 to Leganes. Given the superstar power in Madrid's ranks, including Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Ballon d'Or runner-up Vinicius Jr, many would have been forgiven if they tipped Los Blancos to win by a wide margin. Instead, Las Palmas took the lead inside five minutes and held out their highly-fancied rivals until the 69th minute when Vinicius scored a penalty, as the contest ended 1-1. It was, in Mc Kenna's words, 'a bit of a shock result'. Unfortunately for Las Palmas, the result was one of, if not the only positive from the start of their season. The club failed to win any of their first nine league fixtures - losing six - and eventually pulled the trigger on manager Luis Carrion. Former Espanyol and Olympiacos boss Diego Martinez replaced Carrion and has since transformed Las Palmas' fortunes completely. Since Martinez's arrival, Las Palmas have won four from six in the league, with the pick of the bunch undoubtedly being a 2-1 victory away at Barcelona last weekend. Mc Kenna played the entire game against the Spanish giants as a 67th-minute strike from Wolves outcast Fabio Silva proved to be the winner. The Scot was rather modest about the result but was proud of how his team stood up to Barcelona's world-class attack. "They had a strong team, " Mc Kenna said. "Then obviously at half time, seeing Lamine Yamal come on is going to be a different proposition. "But we stood up to it and managed to see the game out. " Even though he has had to defend against some of the best forwards in the world, Mc Kenna has endured a much trickier time when it comes to an entirely different opponent: the Spanish language. "I'm trying, " Mc Kenna said. "It is difficult. I've got two or three lessons every week. All the meetings are in Spanish, so I need to learn it as quick as possible. "It is difficult at times. You feel like you're making progress and then you just feel like you've hit a brick wall and you're taking absolutely nothing in. "But I need to persevere with it and hopefully in the months to come I can pick it up. " © 2024 talk SPORT Limited

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