Lewis Ferguson was today announced as the winner of the inaugural Atlas Knowledge Moment of the Month award for his stunning goal against Burnley in the second qualifying round of the Europa League back in August. After securing 38% of the vote from the Red Army, Lewis picked up the award from Thomas Kennedy, Head of Marketing at Atlas Knowledge at Pittodrie.

Congratulations Lewis! Well deserved.

We are pleased to announce that with 38% of the Red Army vote Lewis Ferguson is the inaugural winner of the @Atlasknowledge Moment of the Month for his fantastic goal against @BurnleyOfficial at Turf Moor! #StandFree pic.twitter.com/pSuwra8bgj

— Aberdeen FC (@AberdeenFC) October 4, 2018

— Aberdeen FC (@AberdeenFC) October 4, 2018

After receiving his trophy this afternoon he spoke to RedTV and also the Red Matchday Editor:

The Moment

“I don’t remember much about the goal. I saw the ball come across and it was just instinct really. It was a blur! I remember the noise from the fans and then going away and celebrating. I watched it more than a few times. I watched it last night actually! I still can’t quite believe it went in, but I am proud of it.”

The injury

“I have been running since last week and I trained with the first team yesterday, a full training session, so I am back and feeling good and feeling fit.

“I have been in the gym for the past three weeks with Adam Stokes and Tony Tompos. I want to thank them for getting me back on the pitch so quickly. Credit to them. They worked tirelessly to get me fit. Whenever everyone else is off, they are working hard with the injured boys to help them.

“I have come back quicker than what I first thought. And that is down to their work.

“Also, you had guys like Mark Reynolds, Scott Wright and Danny Rogers who are out at the moment and they really helped through it.

“It was just a collision with Dean Campbell in training that caused the problem. I had just arrived back from being away with the Scotland squad and was only doing a half session that day. It was a 50/50 and although we both pulled out of the challenge, the way my leg planted and the contact caused my knee to go an awkward way. I did not think it was anything too serious at time, but I had my scan and it was worse news than we had expected.

“All you can do is get your head down and work hard.”

The semi-final

“I have never really had an injury before. I have obviously had knocks but have never had a proper injury. So it was a new experience having to watch on from the sidelines and it was quite frustrating. When you are watching the boys play and you are having to sit and watch, it is hard.

“I was nervous!

“As I was saying in my recent programme interview, I never really get nervous playing football, have never felt nervous before a game; watching the game against Hibs, by the end I was so nervous I was shaking!

“Thankfully we got the win in the end. I was maybe less disappointed about missing the shoot-out! Seriously though, I would have happily stood up and taken a penalty. I would be quite confident that I would put one away.

“It was a massive result for all the boys and everyone associated with the club. Hibs are a very good side, to play them at Easter Road and get through was a big achievement. We now have a semi-final to look forward to. It is a step towards where we want to be, we want to be challenging for trophies. Hopefully we can do the business in the semi’s.

“It will be huge. And it will be huge for me. I have never played at Hampden before. So hopefully I can be involved.”

The St Mirren game

“I have watched all the games and I thought against Celtic we played better football than we did in the previous matches that we won. Celtic is probably the hardest place to go in this league, so to go there and perform well and play like that was a positive. Hopefully we can take that into the game against St Mirren on Saturday.

“I know a few of the boys at St Mirren. I know Kyle Magennis who plays centre midfield, he has been involved with Scotland. I also know Sam Jamieson who made debut last week against Hibs. I played with the striker when we were kids. So I was happy to see him playing for the first team. Hopefully though I can get one over him on Saturday.

“I believe we can go up a level. We have won games but have had to grind out results recently. I think we can go up a gear and showcase what we can do.

“Losing the Kilmarnock game before the last international break was tough. When you lose, especially with the way that game went, you want another game as soon as possible. I just kept playing the Kilmarnock game in my mind. Hopefully on Saturday we can get the win and go into the break happy.”

The Scotland U21s

“The injury also came at a bad time because I had just broken into the Scotland U21’s.

“Scotland have a good team. We had a great result in the Netherlands. It is mostly first team players who are in the squad, guys who are playing for their clubs every week. it is a good squad. It is strong and it is a tough team to get into.

“Next week they are playing the Ukraine and England and obviously I missed out on that squad because of injury. I would love to have been involved. It is disappointing, but I am just happy to be back fit and the international break will give me an opportunity to work on my sharpness.”

Keep an eye out for September’s Atlas Knowledge Moment of the Month competition – the shortlist will be announced and voting will open next week!