After skippering the Dons to a point against AEK Larnaca, Nicky Devlin says the side can use that as a springboard to greater things in the competition.
“Hopefully it turns out to be a really important point for us. I go back to a lot of the things the manager has been talking to us about, especially after the last away game in Europe, which was obviously really disappointing. We did have to prove to ourselves that we were good enough to play at this level. I’m sure a lot of people would have questioned the team being at this level. We had to come and show that away from home, we can put performances together.
“They’re a good side. I think a lot of people might have turned their noses up a wee bit, thinking it’s only a team from Cyprus, we should be competing against them. But they’re a good side, especially here. So hopefully it will be a good point in the long run.
“The clean sheet was a big plus. Apart from the Hibs game, it’s been quite a few clean sheets domestically recently, and another one tonight. We know if we can keep clean sheets, we’ve got a good chance of winning games. We’ve always got players that will create chances. We’ve got players that can probably create stuff out of nothing, so we don’t have to be at our best all the time to win games, as long as we know we can keep clean sheets.”
With the Dons defending better now, Nicky pointed to two youngsters at the back who are doing a sterling job for the side.
“Jack and Dylan just look so comfortable. Jack, especially when we went to a different formation, at times the middle of it that is too easy for him. He just strolls it, to be honest with you, and he’s getting better all the time. Dylan’s been brilliant from the start of the season. He’s probably been a wee bit frustrated that he’s not been involved as much as he wanted to be. But he’s come in for his two first team games at Aberdeen and he’s had two clean sheets. I thought he was a real threat, especially the first half, going forward. Both of them are brilliant around the dressing room and they’ll just keep trying to get better.”
There was one heart on the mouth moment for Nicky as a sliced clearance very nearly saw him get on the scoresheet at the wrong end.
“I did think the boy was offside, but I still have to deal with the clearance better. I was just hopeful that when I did connect with the ball, it went so high, I was like, ‘It’s surely not going to drop down in time!’ That part wasn’t the worst bit. It’s then defending the corner and you’re just praying ‘Don’t concede from this,’ because it would have been fair on the boys, because the team put so much effort into the clean sheet today.”
There was a different role for Adil Aouchiche in Cyprus, playing deeper in midfield and impressing in that position.
“Since Adil’s come in, he’s probably played further forward for us. I think sometimes it’s maybe been hard to get him involved in the game as much as we want. In that deeper position tonight, in theory, he should get more of the ball, especially in the build-up, and that’s the kind of players we want on the ball for us. They’re the ones that are going to create stuff and make stuff happen.
“We know how good he is going forward, but tonight he showed everyone how disciplined he can be as well, because it’s not an easy shift for the boys in there, especially with the likes of me behind them, just making them almost do the running and covering the spaces. He was excellent tonight.”
