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Aberdeen V Burnley | Match Preview

25 July 2018
Author AFC Media Team

Read our big match preview ahead of tomorrow night’s Europa League tie.

This Thursday The Dons take on Burnley in the Europa League Second Qualifying Round. It’s the first venture into European competition for The Clarets in over 50 years after they finished seventh in the English Premier League last season, despite having one of the smaller budgets in the league. Aberdeen gained entry through finishing second in the Scottish Premiership after a thrilling climax to the season, which saw a final day victory at Celtic Park secure a fourth consecutive runners-up berth.

As has become accustomed to pre-season, The Dons were forced into replacing some key players, but were able to add Irish pair Chris Forrester, Stephen Gleeson to the side. Hamilton Accies captain, Michael Devlin was signed in January to step up his recovery from a long-term injury and he was joined by his former teammate, Lewis Ferguson before the season was up. Dominic Ball was also brought back after his loan spell last season. On Wednesday morning the club announced that Watford defender Tommie Hoban joined on a season-long loan and former Partick Thistle goalkeeper, Tomas Cerny signed a one-year deal to compete with Joe Lewis for the number one jersey.

On Wednesday lunchtime, Derek McInnes and Graeme Shinnie spoke with the media ahead of the first leg at Pittodrie. You can watch their press conferences in full at RedTV.

WHAT DEREK MCINNES SAID

“There’s not a huge gulf between the clubs, but there’s a huge gulf between the leagues. Because there’s that gulf the way Burnley operate is a completely different level with the finances and the rest of it. In terms of size of clubs, we’re a very proud club ourselves with traditions and we back ourselves. We’ve got a brilliant support here so there’s no inferiority complex from us as a club. In terms of the leagues of course there’s huge differences but I’m not actually that bothered about what people think of the Scottish league or what the perception is because I just want to win the game. I want to look after the game and do all we can to bring winning performances. That’s all I’m interested in and everything else is all talk and comment on, but it’s not important.

“We’ve always had a confidence in ourselves to get results whether it’s domestically or in Europe. We recognise the challenge ahead of us, we recognise the strength of the opponent as we spoke about, but we also recognise a lot of what’s good about us and I can’t wait for the game to be honest. It’s the first competitive game, which is always eagerly anticipated and thankfully pre-season is over with now. Nobody really enjoys pre-season games as there’s nothing in it. This is the first proper game and the fact it’s against Burnley has grabbed the attention. I just want my players to be able to produce a performance at this early stage of the season and one we’re capable of. Hopefully we can because we’ll be in the game and that’s important to me.”

WHAT GRAEME SHINNIE SAID

“Everyone’s looking forward to the game, we’ve had a good pre-season and the boys have worked hard. The West Brom game was the best challenge that we’ve had in terms of stepping up to the level that we know Burnley are capable of, so it was good to have that before the Burnley game and during the week there’s been a lot of excitement for the game coming up.

“It will be a big challenge, everyone knows that. They finished seventh in the Premier League which is an unbelievable achievement. So we know what’s ahead of us but we know what we need to try and do to win the game.

“Talk of the gulf between Scottish and English football will never get into our heads, the West Brom game was good for that. Although it was a friendly and they maybe weren’t going full pelt, that game showed what we can do when we come up against teams of that quality, they were a Premier league team last year so there is nothing being said in the dressing room about the gulf. We’re going to go out there and exploit their weaknesses.”

WHAT SCOTT MCKENNA SAID

“It will be up there with one of the best opposition we could have played and it’s a game everyone’s looking forward to. Previous years the draw may have been easier at this stage, but you have to take what you’re given and we’re all looking forward the game.

“It’s a massive game to be involved in and one to look forward to. I think it’s nearly sold out too, so it will be a great atmosphere and hopefully we can put on a good show. This would be my first European game. I went to Bosnia last year and it’s just a different atmosphere than usual. I was on the bench once and hopefully I’ll play tomorrow and I’m looking forward to it because it’s something I’ve always tried to get involved in.

“If we want to give ourselves the best chance we want to keep a clean sheet because if they score we’ll have to score two goals if we don’t score unlike a normal game. We don’t want to give them an advantage with away goals, so we’ll try and make sure that doesn’t happen.

“This game will be a good test for myself and Mikey Devlin as the West Brom game was a good test too. Bar the goal they didn’t have a shot on target and we were solid with Shinnie beside us. Andy’s available tomorrow too so we’ve got the strength and experience. Me and Mikey try and help each other out as best we can and he’s very vocal.”

Our Opponents

Burnley have had a wonderful rise to the Premier League in the last few seasons. After regaining promotion in 2015/16 they were able to maintain their status as a top-flight club the following season. Not much was expected from The Clarets going into the last campaign, but some shrewd deals in the transfer market from Sean Dyche allowed for an excellent start to the campaign with a 3-2 win over champions, Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Burnley had become a difficult to beat and despite a struggle over the winter period, a resurgence in March and April made the prospect of a European placing a reality. Seventh place was secured with games to spare and European football would be delivered to Turf Moor again.

Ones To Watch

Tom Heaton – A Manchester United academy graduate, the goalkeeper was Sean Dyche’s first signing in 2013. He was named Burnley’s Players’ Player of the Year as The Clarets retained their top-flight status in 2016/17 season. He was also capped for England that season and looked set to be in the World Cup squad this summer, but a dislocated shoulder in September scuppered his chances.

Robbie Brady – The Irish international became Burnley’s record signing when he joined from Norwich in January 2017 as the club avoided the drop. The Manchester United graduate has played for Hull City before a £7m move to Norwich, but relegation doomed the club after one season. For Ireland, Brady made himself a hero when he scored the winner against Italy at Euro 2016, which saw the team reach the last sixteen stage.

Sam Vokes – Signed in 2012 from Wolves, the Welsh international has been a key figure in leading the line for Burnley in their rise to the top-flight. At the start of last season Vokes scored a double to beat champions Chelsea and would net more crucial goals throughout the campaign. Now with 59 caps for Wales he scored the winner for his country in the Quarter-Final of Euro 2016 against Belgium.

The Dons V England In Europe

Thursday night will be the fourth time The Dons have faced English opposition in European competition. The first was the visit of Tottenham Hotspur back in 1973 in the UEFA Cup. With the crowd at a capacity of over 30,000, which would prove to be one of the final times at Pittodrie due to seating restriction, it was a good test for Aberdeen against a much-fancied Spurs. Not only were they favourites for the game, but also for the tournament. The Dons proved to be a very good opponent and despite going behind early on, Jim Hermiston scored a penalty to give the Reds hope. Unfortunately, Aberdeen never got the breaks at White Hart Lane despite a very good effort, were dispatched 4-1 on the night. Spurs would go on to reach the final only to lose out to Feyenoord. 

In 1981 The Dons went into the European Cup campaign as Scottish Champions and were given the biggest test of all – Liverpool. Thousands lined the street outside Pittodrie overnight in order to secure their tickets for the big match. Terry McDermott’s header after only five minutes followed by John McMaster’s going off after a shocking challenge from Kennedy had The Dons up against it and they were unable to break down the English Champions. At Anfield Alex Ferguson’s men were given a harsh lesson and Liverpool ran out 4-0 winners. The Aberdeen manager was determined to make sure that didn’t happen again.

A year later The Dons were more experienced and were given the opportunity to right the wrongs when they were paired with UEFA Cup holders in the First Round. John Hewitt’s header earned a draw at Portman Road and set things up nicely at Pittodrie two weeks later. That prompted Bobby Robson to claim, “They will never play as good as that again.” But Aberdeen blew their English counterparts away in front of a raucous Pittodrie. Peter Weir tormented Mick Mills on the left and two identical goals in the second half had the England right back twisting and turning. The Dons ran out 3-1 winners and had produced one of the great European nights in the Old stadium.

You can read a full Aberdeen V England feature here

Enjoy the game and COME ON YOU REDS!

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