Niall McGinn
“The post-split fixtures have been announced which means there is not long left between now and the end of the season. But there is still a lot of football to be played between now and then, none more so than when we travel to St Johnstone on Saturday.
“As a player you want to be involved in big games and we have a lot of big games during the remainder of the season.
“If we keep winning we have a chance to finish in second spot early. If it does come down to the final few games then it will be intense but they will be good games
“After a defeat like last week you just look forward to the next game and want to put things right. We want to get back onto the field. We want to react positively. We understand that a lot of people will be watching to see how we react.
“The Manager has spoken to the boys about the need to finish the season strongly and to get to a cup final. If we can finish the season in second spot and also get to a cup final it would be a good season for us but there is still a lot of football to be played and we are just concentrating on a big game against St Johnstone on Saturday.
“St Johnstone have been very consistent over a good number of seasons now. They are having another good season and got a good result last week up at Inverness. Tommy Wright has done a superb job down there. I have known Tommy for a long time as he was a goalkeeping coach in the Northern Ireland set up.
“They are a strong side who work hard and are tough to break down. They play football at the right times but can also defend. We know that it is a tough place to go.
“It is important that we take our chances when they come along. We will normally create chances in any game with the players that we have got. When we do that we know we can get a positive result. Also, we need to get back to keeping clean sheets.
“Despite what happened last Sunday our confidence is still very high and it is important we can keep that going.
“Going into any cup semi-final or final you want to be going into the game on a good run. We have been on a very good run apart from a poor spell against Rangers. It was a bad four of five minutes. A victory on Saturday would set us up nicely for the cup semi-final. We want to go into the game on a high.
“The manager has spoken about my future.
“I am out of contract in the summer and have not signed a contract yet.
“It is an ongoing thing and I am weighing up options and I will make a decision at the end of the season. The most important thing for me is to keep enjoying my football with Aberdeen. My goal tally is into double figures so I want to chip in with some more.
“I have not really looked too far ahead. We have had a lot of big games and have a lot more to look forward to.
“There was a spell when I was not enjoying my football as much as I would have liked around Christmas but I got back into the team and things have gone really well since then. My contract was not really in my thoughts at that stage.
“I will just play it by ear and see what happens come the end of the season.
“Before I signed for Aberdeen I had opportunities to go elsewhere. Once Aberdeen came in for me it was a no brainer. Having played in Scotland before I knew what type of club I was coming to. It was a great opportunity and thankfully I made the right decision at the right time and it has worked wonders for me.
“I came here on a free transfer when Craig Brown brought me in. I had a great first season and scored a lot of goals. I am touching 70 goals and have also weighed in with a lot of assists. Coming here, restarted my career in many ways and helped my international career as well. The club have been great towards me as have the fans. I have loved my time here, it has been really really positive. I have enjoyed my football immensely and I want to keep that going over the next few weeks.
“I think the priority is to get to a cup final and hopefully even win a trophy. The years that I have been here we won the League Cup. That was an incredible experience and was brilliant what it meant for the fans and the city. I think a Scottish Cup winners medal for Aberdeen would be unbelievable and would be a nice way to finish the season for everyone.”
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