Andrew spoke recently to the red matchday editor.

It is a truism that we humans seldom fully appreciate the value of things until it’s too late, often until they’re gone. And perhaps that’s the case with Andrew Considine here at Pittodrie for, although Player of the Year awards and the like have come his way through the seasons, the pace at which modern football operates, and the constant demand for something new that is fueled by social media, barely ever offers a moment for a bit of quiet reflection, still less time to put achievements in their proper context and perspective.

When the time comes for Considine’s Aberdeen odyssey to end – and let us hope that day is still some time away – it will be the full stop on one of the great Pittodrie careers. It will mark the passing of a real lion in the red shirt, one of our own who cares every bit as passionately about the club as the most fervent member of the Red Army and who has always played that way through a distinguished career here that racked up game 465 in last weekend’s cup tie. How much would making it to 500 mean to him?

“I would need to play another season to reach the 500 mark and that would be fantastic, of course it would. Reaching a big round number like 500 would be great, but honestly, every single game still means as much as the first. It always has done. It is a club I have been very close to through the family connection with my dad and it is the team I always wanted to play for.

“Aberdeen Football Cub is huge for me and always will be. Putting on that red jersey on a Saturday, regardless of opponent or occasion, still means just as much as it always did. It is not something that I ever take for granted. I always dreamed of playing for Aberdeen and I realise I am very lucky to have been here for 15 years. Very few players get that opportunity.

“The older I get, I know that obviously I need to look after myself more. The game requires a lot more fitness than it did years ago. The game is quicker. It is tougher because even in training, you are coming up against young boys with a lot of pace. For a number of years, I had to train against Niall and Jonny, which was tough enough, but now Connor and Scott are just as hard to play against!”

The evidence is that Andrew certainly is looking after himself because he was a key part throughout Aberdeen’s excellent December, often playing a central role, quite literally.

“Playing centre-half is where I get my most joy out of my football. My opportunity there only really came about through injury, but that is football, that’s often the way it happens. It was good to play there because Max is doing a terrific job at left-back. He is an incredible athlete and it gave everyone in the dressing room such a lift to see him come back.

“December was a month where you do not have time to think about anything else because we had so many games. I have never experienced such a consistently quick turnaround of games in my career. Once one game was done, it was onto the next. The boys who were playing did not do much training.

“It was good to play centre-half. Although it was on the right side, I was more than happy there. Scott and I have a good relationship with each other. When it comes to deciding who goes and attacks the ball, it is a bit of both. We always get the stats after a game, they are very detailed and will show how many headers you made, passes your receive, passes you make etc. The headers number between Scott and I are much the same. Big Scott is very aggressive in the air as everyone knows, so I enjoy playing alongside him because he will do his fair share of the work, but it is really very 50/50.”

That Andrew could play so regularly and so well through such a manic month will have underlined the fact that age is nothing more than a number in his case, certainly physically. But mentally, that number comes with a host of benefits, especially for the younger members of the squad.

“I do pass on bits of advice when I think it helps. It is more at half-time or before I game when I might speak with them and it is just little things because when I was a young boy, if someone came over and gave you a heap of advice, especially before a game, trying to take it all in is too much to handle.

“For example with Connor, he is full of confidence and the best part of his game is getting one on one with defenders. So you tell Connor to stay as wide as he can so when he receives the ball, he has some space to run into and the chance to turn defenders. I know from my own experience of playing at left-back, it is not good knowing you have a winger who is quick and has great feet and you are already five yards off him and he is going to take you on. As a defender, you want to get as close as possible but if he stays wide, that’s harder to do.

“The young boys nowadays soak it up. They have a great manager and coaches here to learn from and all the more experienced boys are passing on little bits of advice. That approach is working.

“I know from working with the Academy, there are a lot of very exciting things happening at this club and a lot of young boys who are doing very well. The future is bright. That is all down to the work being done by Neil Simpson, Gavin Levey, Robbie Hedderman, Scott Anderson and all the coaches who are out there doing the hard work.

“Many of the coaches have their own full time jobs but they still turn up for training two or three nights a week and then turn up for the game at the weekend. Most of them are just doing it for the love of the game. What they get back is when they see a young player they have coached, at whatever age, making it in the first team. That is very special for them.

“But it is also special as a player to come through the ranks. This club will always have a special piece of my heart because of that and because it is a great place to be. That is something I try and explain to the young players. Ignore any offers from England, stay here because you can achieve something special, as we did with the League Cup win. I strongly believe with the crop of young players coming through, we will win cups in the future and being part of that is just incredible.

“I still want more of that. I’m out of contract in the summer but certainly, I do want to stay, I am very settled here. It will not be about money or anything like that, it will come down to a football decision.

“I don’t know what the future holds, but I will just see how the next five or six months goes and we will take it from there. I have tried to look after myself so hopefully there are still a good few years left in the legs yet!”

December proved that, and it also set the Dons up for what could yet be a big second half of the campaign.

“I think we can do very well this season. It would be great to be there on the final day of the season at Hampden. We are still in the cup and have a chance, along with the top six or seven teams in Scotland.

“I feel with how well we have done over the past few years, we do deserve some silverware to show for the work that has been put in. But like any team, we don’t have a divine right to win games.

“If we can keep everyone fit, and that is going to be key, we can achieve our objectives during the second half of the campaign. I would also say we have not hit the heights yet. There were signs in December of how we can play, and big Sam was a massive part of that because he was scoring lots of goals, and that builds confidence throughout the team. But I think there is more to come from us.

“We have always just gone about our business from game to game. Since the manager came in, it is something he has instilled us. We go about our work quietly and don’t go shouting from the room tops what we are going to do. But I feel we have a chance in doing well in the league. Why not? The past five seasons or so we have been up there. We have shown real resilience and when it comes down to it, we are there.

“In the past, there have been certain fixtures we have slipped up in at crucial times. If we can have another consistent run like we have done in the past from January, and eradicate some of the defeats and turn them into three points even, then you never know.

“We will not shy away from it if we get ourselves into a good position. It’s more open now because more teams are taking points off each other where, for several years, we were the only team getting anywhere near Celtic. I do believe the league will go down to the wire so there will be some massive games in the post-split fixtures. Hopefully we are still in the race at that point.

“Celtic and Rangers have strengthened, and the teams around us have strengthen too, but that has happened every year and we are still able to be very competitive in the business end of the season. We have the experience and the drive and mentality, we know what to do when the going gets tough and what to do in these situations to grind out results.”