Here is a little preview of Saturday’s RedMatchday Magazine:

ASHTON TAYLOR

… “Tranmere was where I learnt my football. I started there when I was nine and worked my way through the ranks. I managed to break into the first team when I was 18 and have not looked back since. Tranmere is a really family orientated club. It was a very good club to start my career with but like other clubs in Leagues One and Two in England, they need a bit of money to get any further.

… “It was the right time for me to move on. I was a part of the furniture at Tranmere. I was there for a lot of years and for me to progress as a player and move onto bigger and better things, I had to make the move. Any new club was going to be different for me, regardless of what league or country it was, so I was very open minded about it all.

… “I faced a number of challenges when I came to Aberdeen. I had never been used to a new team so I was stepping out of my comfort zone. I knew everyone at Tranmere that was involved with the club. For me to go to a new club was difficult – especially the language barrier! I am still coming to terms with the banter in the dressing room and trying to understand what they say! Seriously though, it was difficult, it took time to settle but everyone was really helpful and I have fully enjoyed every minute of my time up here so far.

… “When I arrived at the club in the summer the only ambitions I had were to force my way into the team and try and play every week and then to try and play consistently. I wanted to maintain a level of performance. The move has turned out to be a good move for me. It has been a great experience so far, I’ve been pleased with my performances so far. 

… “Sadly I got injured at a bad time for me personally. To miss out on playing at Hampden was a real disappointment. I was there sitting in the stands supporting the boys and that was difficult. I was with my wife and I was constantly going on and on, so it was a difficult afternoon for her as well! It was hard to watch. Losing a semi-final is always hard for any player to take.

… “That is part of being a footballer though. Injuries are part of the game. There is no point in looking back. I have been working very hard with the physios and hopefully I will be back very soon. There are a lot of big games coming up and I want to be back in amongst it as soon as possible.

… “The boys in the dressing room want to progress and build on what they did last season. We will try and take as many points as we can between now and the end of the season and see where it takes us.”

DEREK McINNES

St. Mirren will make it difficult for us and they have plenty to play for as they’re fighting for their lives but we feel that we’re in a good frame of mind at the moment, with good confidence within the team and plenty to play for and with the crowd behind us, hopefully we can make it a good afternoon.

RUSSELL ANDERSON

It’s been good to get back to back clean sheets in the last two games but it’s even more pleasing that we’ve been scoring so freely at the other end and that the goals have been shared around. Obviously Adam has had a brilliant season already up front, but having seven different goalscorers in the last two games really does take the burden off him and it shows that opposition teams can ever tell where the threat is coming from because we have players all over the field who can chip in with goals.

JONNY HAYES

“As I say, Graeme (Shinie) is very versatile and he can play in a number of different positions but he has proved he’s the best left-back in the league over the past couple of years and was in the team of the year last year. Maybe I’ll get a bit further forward now! Myself and Andy have been kind of filling in there, and Clark’s been out injured as well. It all adds to the competition for places.

“With Kenny McLean coming in too, there is competition for places in the middle of the park. It is good to have that. I have found teams that have not got that competition have always gone a bit stale and looked a bit rusty at times, so it’s a great bit of business by the manager bring in Graeme and Kenny.

YOUNG DONS Jamie Henry

“Paul Sheerin is a very good coach and a good guy. In training, if I make mistakes, he will tell me how to improve so I don’t make the same mistakes. You can tell when he joins in at training that he had lots of ability as a player – he still has!

“Having Scott Anderson involved with the U20s as well as the U17s is important too. During pre-season, Scott came with us to Portugal. All the new boys already knew him and that made it easy for us to settle in. The fact we have all settled in so quickly was important and has probably been a factor in the results we have had this season.

“I really enjoyed being part of the Glasgow Centre and working with Peter Weir. His training sessions were always very good. It did not matter what numbers were there on any particular night, he would still put on a very good session and make it a very good tempo. I am too young to have seen him play but I have watched a few DVDs of him playing in cup finals and I’ve heard he was a very good player.

“We are doing very well in the Development League and have been near the top for most of the campaign. It is very close between ourselves, Hamilton and Celtic who have a number of games in hand. We are now entering the business end of the season and we are still in touch at the top. It is up to us to keep winning games and see where that takes us.

FORMER PLAYERS Doug Fraser

“Charlie Cooke, what a player he was. He was brilliant, he could do anything he wanted with the ball, he could embarrass any defender he wanted, he was fantastic to watch. We were actually in the same digs at Aberdeen when we started out, we got on great together. It helped being on the same side as him up in Scotland. When I went down to England, it was a different thing seeing him come at you. He stuck it through my legs and went past me a few times, that’s for sure!

“I played for two or three seasons at Aberdeen and started to get established and then I wanted another crack at playing in England. I was about to get married and now the maximum wage had gone down there, I could get more money by moving and that was important, like it was to any player then. The wages we got were a bit different to what some of the boys get now! So I got a move to West Bromwich Albion.”

RedMatchday Issue 18 is available from the programme sellers in and around the ground. It will be on sale from the AFC Club Shop and you can also buy a copy online by clicking here