Mark Reynolds

“I am back in the squad. I am back fit. You don’t realise how much you are carrying it (the injury) until you get it properly fixed. It was a tear on the left side that we had been managing but then it went on the right side so that was me done. Even if I had managed to keep going till the end of the season I would then have had to had an operation in the summer and that would have meant missing pre-season and European games with the close season being so short.

“So although I have missed four or five games it has worked out well and I now have some massive games to look forward in the league, a semi-final and potentially a final.

“I’m glad to be back in amongst it and try and fight my way back into the team.

“My fitness is better than it’s been for the last four months.

“In fact, this is the best I have felt for years! Certainly since I can remember. Before even when I was walking the dog I was in agony. It was the same doing other day to day things. I just had to get on with it and try and put it to one side. Now it is properly fixed I am feeling strong again.

“We go into the game on Saturday feeling confident.

“St Johnstone always give us a tough game and did again on Saturday. They are a team we have a lot respect for so it was a very good win. The boys were hurting after the Rangers game.

“I think it speaks volumes of where we are at, that the result last Sunday was met with so much criticism and negativity because people expect so much from us and expect good performances and expect us to win every week. I think most of the time we have answered up.

“I think when you step back and take all the negatives away from that result we have had a good season. Ok we were not great in the cup final but we got there and hopefully we can get to another final as well cement second spot in the weeks ahead.

“This is my third Scottish Cup semi-final at Aberdeen. Hopefully it is third time lucky. It would be nice to go one step further and get to the final, especially on the back of the season we are having. Hopefully finishing second and getting to two cup finals would be a great achievement and a good way to end the season by even possibly going on and lifting the trophy.

“I think we have a core of boys who remember winning the League Cup and saw what it meant to the city and how good it felt for everybody at the club. It would be great to relive that. You see all the photographs in the Pittodrie corridors of all the great Aberdeen teams who’ve won trophies. We have one up there and we’d love to have more as that what you are remembered for.

“If you look back at the 2012 semi-final against Hibs, things have changed massively on and off the field. The changes have been gradual so you maybe don’t notice all of them but when you actually step back and look at it, there are massive differences. For example, if you look at the squads between now and then they have changed a lot.

“Since then we’ve seen a gradual progression and the squad has got stronger with better players coming in every season.

“When I came in we were just trying to get top-six football and that was the aim, to consolidate. Craig Brown was steering the ship and trying to get us back up to where we belong and where we are now. Since then we’ve seen a gradual progression and the squad has got stronger with better players coming in every season.

“When I first came in the aim personally was just to try and get first team football and hopefully build from there.

“Now as a team we are fighting for second every season. We are trying to push Celtic at the top of the table. We are competing in semi-finals and finals and we won a trophy a few seasons back. We want to win another one. The club is certainly going in the right direction. When are involved in the middle of it all and helping to build the club you don’t really notice the differences because many of them are so measured and ongoing. But as I say when I step back and look at where the club is now compared with where it was before, it is night and day.

“Off the field as well.

“There is a lot happening behind the scenes. When you isolate the football department there has been a lot of changes with how we get treated and what is available for us and what we can do. What is encouraging is that there is so much scope to increase that. Everyone talks about getting the new stadium and new training ground. That will take us to another level and on the back of that there is so much that can be done.”

Whilst playing at Hampden this season has been a new experience for many of the Aberdeen players, for Mark it was like returning to familiar surroundings.

“My dad was the first team coach at Queens Park. He used to train with his side on a Tuesday and a Thursday I think it was. I was lucky that the age I was at, school was not as serious at the time and I did not have too much homework! My brothers were having to do their work but I was still in primary school so I could go along and watch the training at lessor Hampden.

“Willie Neil was the kitman. I was reunited with him when I was called up to the Scotland team a few years back as he is the Scotland kitman. I have known Willie all my days so it as nice to see him. Willie used to give me some kit and a bag of balls and I used to just batter balls around lessor Hampden and then I would go and do the same on the main pitch.

“Eddie Hunter was there as a coach as well and he used to love running. He would run the players up and down the stairs inside the main stadium and I would get to run about the pitch and take free kicks and penalties into the goal. The stadium at that time was a mixture of the old Hampden and part of the ground was also being redeveloped. They still had the big team baths in the dressing rooms. I would run one and then use it as a swimming pool for half an hour! I would have a great time!

“So Hampden was a second home for me!”

As for the game itself on Saturday, it is one all the players are looking forward to but they know it will be as tough as any test they have had this season.

“Hibs have a lot of experienced boys. They have a lot of good players who are used to playing at a good level. They are a very good team and they are a team who we will see a lot more of next season. They are a team who deserve a lot of respect. Neil has got them playing good football. Like us they are a team who are used to winning. When you get into that habit of winning you don’t like losing. Winning is a habit and they are in it. As we are.

“So it will be a good game and there will be a good edge to it – two sides desperate to win. They are a good side who need to be respected but ultimately, we just concentrate on ourselves and I believe we have got enough boys in that changing and enough quality to win the game and get us through to a final if we put in a performance that we are capable of.”