By our calculations, Mark Reynolds will play his 400th competitive game tomorrow if he takes to the field against Hamilton Accies. The central defender spoke to the AFC Media team ahead of the game:

“It is a surprise I am close to 400 games as I just found out before doing this interview! It is great to have that number of matches under my belt and hopefully I have still got a couple hundred more in me.

“Tomorrow night is another big game.

“We have been doing well in recent weeks. We learned last season that if we want to do anything we need to sustain the pressure and go on good runs like the one we are on now. It is another big game and important three points, as all games for us seem to be.

“There is a cup final for the fans to look forward to which is great but that now goes on the back burner. We have to focus on league business and we have another two massive games this week.

“Since the manager came in our approach has always been to focus on the next game. That is the biggest challenge and the only thing we worry about. As the manager always points out it is the same three points whoever you beat.  We need to win to keep putting the pressure on at the top end of the league.

“The game is on a plastic pitch and we are prepared for that. We know the ball bounces slightly differently and the speed of the game is different but it is something we are used to. We train on a lot of artificial pitches especially when we get adverse weather. Every artificial surface plays differently and although it takes a bit of adjusting to it is nothing we have not come across before.

“There is a lot of teams in the league who have set out their stall to be hard to beat. Hamilton have not lost in their last three games which shows it will be a very tough game and with Hamilton having the weekend off they will be raring to go.

“We are used to teams coming out and playing well against us and causing us problems. We have always just worried about ourselves. We know that if we go out and play the way we know we can, if the right Aberdeen turns up, then we have a good chance of getting the job done.

“There is now competition for places all over the park. We don’t have any players in the squad who would weaken the team if they were to play. That is massive. It gives the manager the opinion to rest players if they are out of form or if we have a lot of fixtures in a short space of time like we do this week. Having the ability to bring in players with fresh legs keeps all the boys on their toes. There are boys playing at the top of their game at the moment and part of that is because of the strength of the squad.

“Having the strong squad that we do will hopefully allow us to keep that good run going.

“As a footballer you want to play games and when you are on a good run you are quite happy for the games to be coming at you thick and fast. The more games you can play the better. When you are struggling for results you want that extra time to work out any problems on the training field but when you are winning you just look forward to the next game and the next challenge. You still need to prepare properly by being right mentally and need to keep doing the things that have got us in this position.”