Last Updated: Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:30
Scott McDonald has rejected claims of a bust-up with Tony Mowbray after joining Middlesbrough on transfer deadline day.
The Australia international joined former Bhoys boss Gordon Strachan at the Riverside on Monday in a deal thought to be worth around £3.2m.
The 26-year-old insists he made the move in a bid to ensure his place in the Australia World Cup squad, and that Mowbray was keen for him to remain at Parkhead.
He said: "I wasn't too happy with not playing as regularly as I would have liked. There was no fall out, as was suggested, between me and the manager.
"There was nothing like that going on. Relationships were very good. They wanted me to stay at the football club, but I felt I needed to get more game time.
"I had worked under this manager (Gordon Strachan] beforehand and I believe I played my best football under him, so it was another chance to team up with him and Garry Pendrey and try to progress even more as a player and keep getting better and better. With the World Cup at stake at the end of the season, that was a massive factor also."