Shaun MacDonald has returned to his day job at Swansea City after his near miss with Wales.

MacDonald was part of the Welsh Under-21 squad that came so close to upsetting the form book and putting England out of next summer's European Championships.

A 5-4 aggregate defeat was only part of the story as Brian Flynn's men came so near but yet so far to the Championships in Sweden with Shaun admitting that he will now just have to watch on television.

"It's a strange feeling because there's two different emotions I've experienced," said MacDonald in tonight's Evening Post. "It's a mixed bag really - obviously the boys and Brian are gutted because we didn't get to the finals.

"On the other side it was a great experience, and I'm talking about the whole campaign not just the play-off games, and we came out of it with our chests held high.

"I don't think anyone gave us a chance when we drew England, but we have a lot of team spirit which is something Brian really drills into us.

"When we went 1-0 down at Villa Park on Tuesday most people would have expected us to have caved in. But, like I said, we showed a lot of spirit and played for each other.

"That showed over the two games, and when we went 2-1 on Tuesday it really underlined that spirit.

"We matched England in both games and I think they are a little lucky to go through ahead of us. We needed a little bit of luck but we just didn't get it - Sam Vokes's shot proved that.

"Saying that, we are out of it now and it's something we will have to accept.

"Of course, I will be watching it next summer but it will hurt a little."

And of his future Swansea City chances?

"I will keep doing what the manager is asking of me and hopefully I will play a bigger part soon," he said. "We have got a strong squad here and not everyone can play every week.

"So I do have to show patience while putting in the work in training every day.

"Should an opportunity arise then, like it did against Burnley at the Liberty, hopefully I will take it."

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