Simon Church has very quickly established himself as a new Red Army hero. Few players down the years have had such an immediate impact at Pittodrie, at such an important time.

Never forget just how difficult it is joining a new side and a new dressing room, never mind a new league and country halfway through a season. But with four goals to his name in six games, Simon has shown a natural flair for goalscoring. After scoring another winner at Partick on Tuesday, he spoke to RedTV:

“Of course it was an important goal. It was always going to be a tough game and it became even tougher when we went a goal behind. To be fair, Partick Thistle played really well so we are very happy with the three points, they are vital.

“Because of that, and with the way the game went, it was an amazing feeling scoring what proved to be the winner. We then did well to hang onto the lead. The lads showed a lot of courage and quality. We were 1-0 down and they were playing well and we could have let our heads drop, but we showed a great fighting spirt.

“We were without Niall McGinn on Tuesday, Adam and Peter are missing, we lost Jonny for a few games so it shows the depth of the squad that we are able to cope with injuries to key players. The manager has put faith in other players who have come in and done a job.

“I am enjoying my time here, especially when I get on the end of crosses! What striker does not enjoy scoring goals? I am enjoying being in the middle of the penalty box and playing in a side who put over so many crosses, and quality crosses at that.

“I have a few goals now but I need to keep it going. We have nine games left now and all of them are going to be massive games. We are challenging but we need to maintain that.

“I know it sounds boring, but we really do have to take it game by game starting with the match against Kilmarnock. We know it will be another very tough game.

“One of the reasons for coming up here was not just to get into the Wales squad for the European Championships, but also to push for a starting spot. But I also wanted to come and help a team who were up near the top of the table.

“I have the experience of winning promotion with Reading. That was a great season for me. The one thing I learned from that situation was the importance of results at this stage of the campaign. Quite often at Reading, we would go a goal up and then scrap it out. We were not the prettiest of teams but we got the wins we needed to survive at the top.

“We know there will be ups and downs during games between now and the end of the season, but we all just need to stick together. We have a really good changing room and we also have a great support. You saw that on Tuesday night. We are all in this together.

“There will be pressure from the outside but it is what goes on inside the changing room that matters. Our own personal pride and our desire to be successful is what is important.”