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William Hill Scottish Cup 5th Round Preview | Hibernian v Aberdeen | Sunday 3rd feb | 3.30PM KO

Craig Brown :

“I’m very pleased that we’ve got a goalkeeper. We had our eye on Dan for some time, he’s a fine young keeper, he worked here for a week with Jim Leighton and if anyone knows a goalkeeper it’s Jim so when you get a recommendation such as Jim gave us you realise you’ve got a very fine young player. He’s a nice lad so we’re delighted.

“The other signing is a major boost to Aberdeen Football Club because Mark Reynolds will play here for the next 4 and half years. He is a bright guy, terrific professional and I couldn’t be happier with Mark.

“And we’ll have what seems like two new signings next week when Gary Naysmith and Ryan Jack return to training. When people say to me what about your transfer window, I say we haven’t been busy but we got three new signings back two weeks ago. We got Stephen Hughes, we got Isaac Osbourne, and Rob Milsom who were all out of action for ages. Things are looking up in terms of the quality of the squad. We’ve been a bit short in terms of numbers in recent games but now it’s getting back to good quality.

“There was no interest in Niall McGinn. I am delighted he is here but there was absolutely no interest in Niall in the transfer window. I confirmed that with Duncan Fraser, with his agent this morning and no-one has enquired or made any offer at all for Niall McGinn. It is a bit surprising but the only person I’ve spoken to about him is the Northern Irish manager Michael O’Neill. He’s is very complimentary about him and of course so are we but it is a wee bit annoying when you hear claims that people are interested in him and it could unsettle a player if he wasn’t well informed. Niall knows that if there was an enquiry here he would be told.

“It will be a very tough task on Sunday. Hibs are a determine team, a good Cup fighting team. They were in the Final last year and they battled their way there very effectively. I would think if you ask Pat Fenlon he would probably say his squad is better this season. He has had time to improve it. I would say our squad is better this season. We’ve got the addition of one or two good players, you mentioned McGinn who has made a big improvement to the scoring potential of our team so I think it should be a smashing game. I hope it will be the game of the weekend and that we manage to get through.”

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Russell Anderson :

“My fitness is fine. I trained today and will train tomorrow so I should be fine for the game. The game on Wednesday summed up our play recently, I would not say the whole season, but in the games recently mistakes at both ends a costing us. We had chances to score and get a foothold in the game but did not take them and then gave away some soft goals. It is a bad combination to have and that is why we are losing games.

“I have been at the club when things have been a lot worse than this. That is not getting away from the fact all the players in the dressing room were very despondent on Wednesday night. People just look at the last game and we deserve the criticism we got from that but things can change very quickly and we have a great opportunity to do that on Sunday.

“We will have a great support down in Edinburgh. It is important we give them something to shout about. They will be very enthusiastic before the game so we need to keep that going in the early stages of the match.

“We realise it is a huge game for Aberdeen FC. Nobody is underestimating how bit a game it is for us. It is a huge game for both teams.”

RedTV | to listen to the interview in full please click here (coming later)

Josh Magennis :

“Sunday is massive. The three years I have been at Aberdeen I have been at Hampden three times and we have got beat every single time. It is easy for people to say in the press that we are going to do this or we are going to do that but I think by now the fans are sick of hearing that. Simply we have to show up on the day and put in a performance. When big games come along you have to produce the goods. It has gone past the stage of talking about the previous cup glories.

“We have enough in the squad to do the job.

“When I was with Cardiff I did not play at Wembley but I did travel with the team for the FA Cup final. The first time was the cup final in 2008 when we played Portsmouth. I travelled with the youth team. The next year I was a pro with the first team squad when we got to the play-off final. That was an incredible day. Half the stadium covered in tangerine for Blackpool and the other half covered in blue for Cardiff. It was an experience I will never forget and hopefully one I can pass on to people. I loved every minute of it.

“I have spoke to Rory McArdle and congratulated him on his recent cup success with Bradford. It is a great achievement for them getting through to the League Cup Final. He is on cloud nine at the moment and I don’t think can take in what has happened.”

Mark Reynolds :

“The recent form has been poor and people are talking about this statistic and that statistic but the league is still tight and a win in the cup on Sunday would be massive and would reignite the season and give us that second wind for finishing the campaign strongly.

“I think it is important you realise that you have to take it a game at a time. Just take the game that is in front of you and treat it like any other. But certainly from my own perspective you need to want the pressure of being able to step up to the big games and the big games should bring out the big players. It is a pivitable point of the season with the game on Sunday and the next few league games. February is going to be a massive month for us.

“I feel the game is as big as the semi final last year. Everyone was talking about how big the last round was against Motherwell but there is no point in winning that game and then going out in the next round. The fans want to see us getting to finals and winning trophies and we understand that. It is a massive game on Sunday and we have to get a result.”

RedTV | to watch Mark’s conference in full please click here