Aberdeen vice-captain Francesca Ogilvie recently returned to the squad after a spell out with injury. Her return is timely as the Dons go into the final stretch of games in what Ogilvie admits has been a tough season.

“Where we are in the table is not enjoyable for us and it’s not where we want to be. Last season we did so well to finish fifth in our first season in the league that we almost set ourselves too high a target to repeat that. I don’t feel for the most part that our performances have been that bad, but results haven’t gone our way. Nobody wants to be in or around the relegation zone but that’s where we are, and we need to pick up as many points as we can from the remaining games to finish as far from the bottom two places as possible.”

There have been a lot of changes both on and off the pitch this season, but Francesca feels the young players in their first campaign have a real bright point.

“It’s never easy losing players and those that have left were almost as important off the pitch as they were on it. All the players that have left were big characters and obviously Kelly was our captain, so she was always going to be a big loss. We’ve had changes off the pitch as well and a change of manager is never easy for any team. Different managers have differing styles and we’ve had to adapt to Gav Levey’s way of doing things after Emma and Gav Beith left. We had a group of younger players come into the squad too and to give them their due, they’ve done really well, and the likes of Mya, Maddie and Millie are starting games every week now.

“I moved up to vice-captain this season when Loren took over from Kelly and to be honest, it’s not something I expected to get so early in my career. We have a lot of young players, but we also have young players who have a lot of games under their belt as well as a full season in the topflight. There are a few of around 20 or 21 that have been in the team for four years now but obviously it’s also good to have a bit more experience in the team.”

Ogilvie touched reflected on some of the results over the season and why she feels the team may have taken more points in several of their games.

“We’ve touched on it in team meetings, and I think that our age has definitely shown in some of our results. I think we’ve given up thirteen points this season in games that we were leading or level in. I think that is down to mindset and having so many young players. In terms of being physically able, you can go away and work on your fitness and strength in the gym and in training. Training your mind is a very different thing and it is difficult. It’s not so much the games against the top teams, I think you notice it more playing against teams around us. We were leading recently against Partick Thistle and Spartans but when the game changed, and they came back at us we weren’t able to recover.”

Recovery has been a feature in recent weeks for the vice-skipper as she has tried to come back from a hamstring injury. She is looking forward to facing Hamilton, an opponent she missed out on facing in the very game of the campaign.

“I missed the first game of the season against Hamilton and although I played when we beat them later in the season I’m looking forward to paying them again and get that loss back from game one. It’s been frustrating for me injury-wise as I missed a fair bit recently. I’ve worked really hard to get back and Beth our physio has worked hard with me to get me back as quickly as possible. It has been a frustration as I feel I’ve had a bit of a stop-start season. It’s one-one in terms of wins between us and Hamilton so we know we can beat them on our day, but we’ve also seen that they can be dangerous if we are not on it. It’s a home game so we’re looking to go and get those three points and put the pressure back on the teams around us.”