the skipper leads by example
Captain Russell Anderson as ever led by example on Saturday as he put in a quite brilliant performance. Despite the four nil scoreline the Dons defence were tested for much of the game and Russell marshalled his backline superbly. As ever after the game though he was extremely modest and was quick to praise his team mates around him.
“I thought Shaleum Logan did really well considering it was his first game and the fact he only arrived in Aberdeen on Thursday afternoon. He only trained with us for one day before the match so he did really well, he looks like he will be a good addition to the squad. Mark Reynolds had a terrific game and has had a terrific season. It is not just this game. He has been fantastic all season. It was a real coup at the time for the club to get him to come here permanently. He has the best years of his career ahead of him. I enjoy playing alongside Mark because his pace gets us out of trouble now and again! He is playing at the top of his game at the moment and he deserves to do well because he works so hard. He is the sort of person you want in the changing room. Mark deserves it like everyone in the changing room because everyone is working very hard at the moment. The Manager will make sure we continue to do that.
“As for the game itself I thought we got off to the perfect start but I didn’t think we really capitalised on that. St Johnstone gave it a right good go in the first half but we held on. Jamie made a crucial save at 1-0 which went a long way to us winning the game. I thought in the second half we controlled things a lot better. The front four were so clinical. Breath-taking at times I thought.
“I have said it before but the Red Army were again unbelievable at Tynecastle.They were so loud you could not hear your team mate next to you. The backing was fantastic and I am sure it will be the same in the final.”
The skipper’s performance was even more remarkable when you consider that he had already been booked in the competition twice before so a yellow card on Saturday would have meant he would be suspended for the final. The slightest mistimed tackle or mistake could have cost him the chance to lead the side out in a final for the first time.
“It was not an ideal situation but it was not on my mind. You have to see the bigger picture. The bigger picture was it does not matter who leads the team out in the final, it was just important to get the team there.
“It means an awful lot getting to a final for everyone involved with the club especially the supporters and it will mean a lot when the day comes around. It will mean a lot for many people associated with the club who work tirelessly behind the scenes as well as the players and the coaching staff.
“It is well documented that is has been a long time since the club have got to a final. We must remember that we have only made the final, we have won nothing yet. There are some big games coming up between now and the 16th of March that we have to concentrate on them- starting with the Celtic game next Saturday. It is back to business on Monday. The Celtic game will be very difficult, they are a very good side but I would rather be going into the game on the back of winning the semi-final and not losing it. It is a hard game but as ever we will prepare properly and we will see what happens.
“We know there will be a lot of talk about the final between now and then but we will try and keep a lid on it. The Manager last week made sure we kept a lid on things coming into the semi-final and it worked really well. There was no distraction in the changing room and we prepared thoroughly as we do for every game so I am sure he will take the same approach for the final.
“The final will be a game in its own right. It will have nothing to do with what has happened in the past in previous finals I have played in.
“Similarly there was talk last week about the defeats in previous semi-finals but most of players here have not been involved in those games. The Manager was also not there. When a new Manager comes in it does not weigh on his mind. The gaffer did not mention what has happened before at any point during the week before the game. Everything was remarkably low key and the approach was to treat it like any other game which we did. Credit to him because it definitely helped.
“The manager approaches every game the same. He does not allow us to get carried away.
“With the players we have we have given ourselves the chance to win any game we go into. We go into every game thinking we have a chance of winning and the cup final will be no different. There is a good mentality within the squad. We have seen that on a number of occasions this season when we have been up against it and when we have had to score late goals to win games we have been drawing or draw games we have been losing. That rubs off on everyone and the players get confidence. We still have not achieved anything yet this season though. We have given ourselves a chance in the League Cup and we have to give ourselves a chance of progressing in the Scottish Cup by now focusing on Saturday and the trip to Celtic Park.”
