Mark recently spoke to RedMatchday Magazine

And so, with the European adventure a distant memory, it’s back to the bread and butter of trying to ensure we qualify once again next season. What are the ambitions circulating in the Pittodrie dressing room for this term? Who better to ask than Pittdrie’s Mr, Consistent himself, Mark Reynolds?

“The manager came in last season and said he wanted to consolidate a position in the top six, maybe push for European football and even win some silverware. He did it all! That can sometimes be a tough act to follow, but there is no reason why, with a little luck that you need in cup games, we can’t challenge in both cup competitions as we have did last season.

“We’ve already shown again in Europe this season that we are good in knockout football. We have the quality in the squad and we have enough players for us to do well in the league again. We are another year into it. The manager knows his players better, we know each other better and we are a lot stronger.

“You saw last season, the way we lost second position, there is a lot that can happen in football. We need to go out to make sure we are pushing again and keep in amongst it. I don’t really think there was any point when we fell off the pace last season. We just lost the odd games here and there. We need to go out and do the same again this season.

“For any of the teams in the league, if they start off well and get points on the board then there is no reason why they can’t hang on to a good position in the table. It is going to be an interesting league, there have been some interesting results already. Every year there is a surprise package but we just have to concentrate on ourselves and making sure we pick up the three points home and away.

“Personally, the aim is just to keep playing and trying to improve on last season. The key for me was consistency. It was not a case of playing really well one week and then having a few poorer games. I had to be there every week helping the team grind out results. I have to keep doing what I was doing and helping the team get as many clean sheets as we did last season, even try and better that.”

Mark’s consistency led him unerringly towards a summer encounter with a genuine Pittodrie great of the past when Scotland boss Gordon Strachan brought him into the international fold. It was time well spent according to Mark.

“I was very impressed with Gordon Strachan. When you see him on TV, because he’s on for such a short time and the pundits don’t get much time to talk, you don’t realise just what a great footballing brain he has got.

“He has a long term plan and everything he is doing is building towards that. He is trying to bring his ethos into Scottish football.

He wants Scotland to play the proper way but also to play a way where we can be successful. There were a couple of times he pulled me aside and pointed a few things out, things you might get away with in the SPFL but not at the level he is wanting to play at. They are all things that will improve my game.”

With qualification for the expanded European Championships of 2016 about to get under way, high standards are crucial if Scotland are to end what will be an 18 year wait for a major tournament. After getting a fresh taste of playing international football, it’s clear that Mark intends to meet those standards and experience plenty more of it.

“Pete and I both enjoyed going away and playing at that level and seeing the little things that those top players do differently that allows them to play at that level regularly. It was good to see. It was also good to see they are the same as us and play the same style of football. It is just getting to that level of consistency and quality.

“Hopefully it is not going to be my first and only call up. Hopefully I can keep performing well for Aberdeen and get another taste of it. It was a great experience just to be in and about that squad with the players that were there.”

Going away with Scotland did have one small downside, though it was a price that Mark was more than willing to pay – an already truncated summer break was cut still further. In spite of that, Mark is pretty phlegmatic about it all and even reckons it will do the Dons good.

“I said before a ball was kicked this season that when I had a similar experience at Motherwell in starting the season very early, it set us up nicely for the domestic campaign and we went on and had a good season.

“The hardest part was mentally getting over the fact we had four weeks off instead of seven. But once you got your head round that it was not that bad. To be honest, when you speak to supporters on the street, they look at you in disbelief when you try and explain the difference between four and seven weeks off! Most people would be very grateful to have four weeks off from their job.

“The buzz phrase that everyone throws about is ‘being burnt out’. As soon as you have a bad game or look a bit jaded, people say that it’s because of that shorter break, but I don’t think that it is an issue. With the sports science now that we have at the club, if there is an issue then it gets flagged up very quickly.

“We all wear the heart rate monitors, we have the GPS tracking, so they know exactly what is happening to each of us, they know exactly how hard we are working and how much ground we are covering.

“Graham Kirk will tell the management if a player needs a rest or if they need some more training to sharpen them up, so there is no problem. We are very well looked after and I’d say that we are all feeling fresh and feeling ready for the new campaign.

“These are changed days, even from when I started playing at 18, 19. It is completely different the way preseasons are done and the school of thought on how training is done. If you look at the top players in the Premiership who are playing international football, they are playing 50- 60 games are season, every year, and not suffering from it.

“Looking back at it now, if we had gone out in the first or second round, then it might not have been so nice coming back early as we would have had dead time between the games and the season actually starting. To peak for the European games then to tail off and then have to try to peak again would not have been ideal but the way it has worked out has been really good for us, much better than playing friendlies. The three ties we have played have gradually got harder and harder.

“The first two games against Riga luckily enough were fairly straightforward and they got us back into the swing of things. The matches against Groningen were much tougher and you saw from their result the other week against Aston Villa where they won 4-1, it shows how good a standard of team they are. I think over the two legs we played some good football and started to get back into our stride and started to reproduce some of the football we produced last season. Then the two games against Real Sociedad were probably the two hardest matches we will play all season.

“These Europa League qualifiers have been a great learning experience for everyone. It has been great for the boys who have never done it before but it has also been great for those of us who have done it before. It is a change of scenery. It mixes up your training, you have a different schedule, you have different days off. You have to peak for different games. You have to get used to travelling on a Wednesday and then playing on a Thursday and then back into training on a Friday.

“It has been a good experience for everyone at club. It is hard to explain to someone just how much it will stand the younger boys in good stead for going on in their careers. Gaining as many experiences as you can get is only going to be good for you.”

For all that Derek McInnes and his staff will be meticulous in their attention to detail when it comes to fitness levels etc across the season, these extra games and the early start to the campaign will inevitably mean that the squad will be tested more than ever before. Fortunately, according to Mark, the players are ready for it.

“I think the squad is looking good. Last season when the manager came in he changed eight or nine players but he said that would not happen again. Once he got his core of players there would only be tweaks and that is pretty much what he has done this summer. He has brought in the players that he needs.

“If you look at the starting XI this season you could argue it is maybe stronger than last season and we did pretty well last year. This season, we have an even stronger bench as well. Everyone on that bench at the moment could stake a claim for getting a starting slot, so I think we are looking good.

“There is a lot of experience in the side and then we have a lot of young players pushing through. I am sure one or two of them will become regulars in the team even more so than they were last season.

“The new boys who have arrived are settling in well. It is a good changing room. It is a lot easier coming into dressing room like the one we have here. There are no cliques, everyone gets on well, everyone likes to have a good laugh and gets on with each other. It is a lot easier trying to integrate yourself into that than trying to find a clique you fit into or find yourself a little corner. All the new signings are good boys and have fitted in right away.

“You can get changing rooms where there are groups of three or four boys who are always together and don’t involve anybody else. They just keep themselves to themselves and it is hard when it is like that and people don’t talk. Here though you are comfortable in everyone’s company.

“Whether it’s a senior player in the team or a young boy, every gets on. Everyone can hold a conversation, everyone is comfortable. It might sound like a little thing but when you are living in each other’s pockets and you see each other every day of the week including Christmas Day, it is very important within a team environment.

“Everyone has different personalities, everyone is a different stage of their lives. The only thing sometimes that you have in common is that you love playing football. To have that kind of mix and to have all these types of personalities to come together isn’t always easy but it’s working well here.

“Another point I would make is that everyone in the changing room is a winner. Everyone is used to being a strong personality. When most of the boys were growing up playing, they were the dominant player, they were the top player in their team, they were the one everyone looked at.

“When you come into a changing room when everyone is used to that and everyone is used to being the alpha male, it can sometimes result in a few clashes and people trying to find their way in the pecking order, but there has never been any of that here. There is no posturing. No one is really bothered about being the top boy. Everyone just gets on and encourages each other. We are all fighting to get into the starting XI but that does not stop us all being friends.”

In the absence of Russell Anderson in the past few weeks, Mark has taken over the captain’s armband. It’s a sight we’ve see a fair few times in the last 12 months or so and one that might be more regular in the years to come given Mark has tied himself to the Dons for the foreseeable future – though given the ageless nature of the current skipper, that armband might not be going anywhere soon! Given the huge contribution made by Russell Anderson over the years, that’s an especially comforting thought.

Captains come in different styles, with their own ideas and methods, but the best rise to the occasion when asked to lead. Mark Reynolds definitely comes into that category.

“I am probably more vocal when I have the captaincy, but it is not something I am aware of. It is a great honour to captain the side, whether it is leading the boys out or if Russell is coming off and he hands you the armband. I just try and do the same things I always do, but you understand the responsibility.

“There are a lot of leaders on the pitch for Aberdeen. Regardless of who wears the armband, there are four or five guys in the team who are quite vocal and get the boys going and that has played a part in the success we’ve had in the last year or so. We have got a lot of leaders and I think we need that if we are going to get to the next level. You need guys leading all over the pitch.

“You look back at all the successful teams, the one thing they all have in common is the fact they have five or six captains in their side. It is maybe something that was missing in previous Aberdeen teams in recent years. It is nice to have winners and have guys who are going to step up throughout the side. There are plenty of boys in that dressing room that lead by example and don’t have to be led.”