Aberdeen Women manager Scott Booth met with the media at Cormack Park this morning ahead of our Scottish Cup Semi-final against Rangers at Hampden on Sunday. RedTV subscribers can watch in full by clicking here.

On Sunday

“I think it’s a really big game for the players, because it’s not often that that this will happen for them, they deserve to be there.

“They’ve worked incredibly hard this season having been through so much, so to be able to go out and to be able to enjoy a Cup Semi-final at Hampden is an incredible achievement if you think back to the start of the season, and all the ups and downs that the players have had to deal with, they’ve coped incredibly well.

“I think that it does show that the club is moving forward, and to create a little bit of history and to be able to walk out at a Semi-final is a good sign.

On leading Aberdeen at Hampden

“It will be really special (for me as well). I joined the club to be able to help them progress and I think this season we’ve been able to do that to a large degree.

Intent of the club and competing with full-time sides

“I think this game at Hampden is a bit of a reward for the hard work the players have put in, but also it shows the intent of the club to be in the final stages of the competitions that we play in. It is great for this one to be Hampden, and I’ll be proud to lead the players out.

“There’s obviously a lot of work still to be done and we’re definitely not there yet. We have a lot of hard work to continue. We are playing against a team that are fully professional, and that’s where we want to be. We’re not there.

“I think there is a big space still between the teams that are still fundamentally part time and the teams that are fully pro, I think you could see that this season in the league campaign that there’s a disparity there between the bottom half of the table and the top half.

“That comes down to the players being 100% full-time against the fundamentally part-time players. We want to be in the top half of the table, we want to be a club that challenges the other teams in the top half, and I think maybe this is a first of those moments for us.

“Does it come a little bit early? We’ll have to wait and see.

Expectations for Sunday

“I think we have to be realistic. As a manager, I’m realistic about the expectations. However, it’s a Cup Sem-Final, and I know that for sure the players will give 100% and more.

“I want them to enjoy it first and foremost. I want them to savour it. I want them to experience it, and I want the younger players in the squad to use it as part of their development. It’s a one-off game and in football we know that anything can happen.

“We’ve worked hard this season to strengthen, to develop the younger players even more, and to find a little bit of continuity within the squad that maybe wasn’t there. I think that’s genuinely helped us and we have seen an upturn in results.

“There’s always going to be ups and downs, but I think in the main we’ve progressed a fair bit and I think it is a good reward for the players. That’s why I want them to savour it, to enjoy it, to soak it up and to not feel any pressure: just go out and play, give absolutely everything in order to try and get a result, but there is no pressure on them.

“We understand that it is possible. Anything is possible, we know that, but we have to have a lid on our expectations to a certain degree. I think the players can go and enjoy the game because of that, and then they will have that idea in the back of their minds that anything can happen.

“We understand we are playing against a really good side. They’ve got fantastic players; they are very good going forward. We found it really tough against them in our previous games, hopefully Sunday will be a bit different. Having played in those games already, the players recognise the levels needed to compete. I believe the players have progressed since we played them last, we are stronger.

Team News

“We need to be at our very best to do that. We’ve lost a couple players through being cup tied, which isn’t ideal for us because although our squad is a good size, we maybe don’t have that level of experience in games like this.

“Everyone else is available, it is just Keira and Megan who remain out long term. It would have been nice to have Jess and Ellie, but that is not the case.

“Expectations have to be handled, and the players have got to understand this is about enjoying the moment and enjoying the reward for a really tough season.”