Aberdeen take on Shakhtar Donetsk in the Europa Conference League tomorrow night at Pittodrie. Captain Graeme Shinnie looks ahead to a fixture which could be the catalyst for a turnaround in form for the Dons.
RedTV subscribers can watch the joint press conference with the manager and captain here.
EUROPEAN NIGHTS
“I have played in these games many times and have had some great results. We have the backing of the home crowd, so the squad is excited for the game. It’s a big game for us. It’s something that we managed to achieve last year to put us in this situation. It’s a game we want to enjoy, a game that we want to be really competitive in and using the home crowd to build on that and put in a real top performance to try and win a game.
“I feel for us in the stage that we’re at, we want to put on good performances, we want to start winning games and it doesn’t really matter what competition it is. We want to get back on that winning trail. I thought there were a lot of positives to take out of the last game and in my opinion, we should have won the game. We don’t get nothing for that, but we had enough chances to win the game. We lose it in the last minute, which is tough to take, but we need to keep building on it.
“The pressure’s always there at a club like Aberdeen, and the pressure is always on individuals as well. I would always put pressure on myself to perform at my highest level, to give my all for the team. So, football always has these pressures, and like I said, it’s a game that we’re looking forward to and a game that we want to put in the best performance we can and make it another memorable night at Pittodrie.”
STAYING POSITIVE
“Yes, its testing and I think in football you’ve got to stay in the middle ground, you don’t want to get too high when it’s going well and you don’t want to get too low when it’s going not (going well) and I think the manager here is a prime example of that he’s very good at keeping everyone level headed in the dressing room.
“His character is key to keep the boys going forward and trying to keep the positivity there and I try and back that up as well.
“I’ve been through a lot of tough moments in my career, and you need the character to continue to push forward. You can’t do anything about the past, the only thing you can deal with is the here and now, so as a footballer, you look to the next game and you look to put in the best performance and try and turn things around.
“It’s natural for people to give you criticism when you’re not winning games. You have to step up and accept that for what it is and have the character to combat that, and like you say, prove people wrong. Do it for yourself mainly, your own career, and to help the team. That’s what we’re focused on, and that’s what the excitement is. It’s a big game tomorrow. It’s Europe. It’s games that you love to be involved in, especially me at my right old age!
“I still love and thrive on these nights. I still have a real excitement for these nights. We want to show people the team we are. I think performances have been decent at times, and we’re not far away, but we haven’t been doing enough. We want to put in an all-round performance tomorrow night try and make it a night that we’ll remember”
FINE MARGINS
“It’s us that step out on the pitch, the manager gives us all the tools and the staff, and we’ve got everything we need. At times in games, it’s just been small moments that have turned games around in terms of chances, and we’re not giving up a lot of them, but the ones that we are, we’re giving up quite big chances. It’s small details in games that we need to sort out. We’re all in it as one. We’re all fighting together, and we’re all looking to turn things around.”
UNDERDOGS
“Many people won’t have us as favourites tomorrow, but that’s fine, I’m used to that throughout my career. I started at Inverness, where every week you were underdogs, but we enjoyed that, we enjoyed being that and tomorrow night would be similar. We’re at home and we’ve got the home backing of the crowd, so we need to use that and try to make Pittodrie a fortress. There’s been evidence before beating big clubs, we beat Frankfurt the last time we were in it (UEFA Conference League), so we’ll take confidence from that. The belief is there inside the dressing room, and that’s the most important thing, then we also need to feed off the crowd and try and give them something to cheer for and like I said, be one as a whole and trying to do it tomorrow.”
FAVOURITE EUROPEAN MOMENTS
“There’s been a few, my goal against Limassol at home was enjoyable, the win away at Rijeka was also a memorable one. I didn’t play in the game, but I was involved. It was another great night. So there’s been a few, even Rijeka at home, we were 3-0 up in the first game and went 2-0 down at Pittodrie, there was a bit of nervousness in the stadium, and I think Niall McGinn scored straight away and it went to 2-2 and we cruised through to the next round after that. I love these nights, the stadium’s packed, it’s a different kind of vibe to a home game under the lights at Pittodrie, which is a game that I really enjoy and the whole squad does too.”
ONE GAME AT A TIME
“It’s the next game, so it’s in football when you have a loss, you always look to the next game, like I keep saying, it’s a game that we need to continue performance-wise, but the small details we need to get better at. We need to try and win the game, and winning games builds confidence, so we would then move on from there to Sunday. All we are focused on is trying to get a good result out of this game, and then we’ll move on to the next one”.
ARMSTRONG’S INFLUENCE
“He’s a top player, not only with his experience off the pitch, the young players around him see the way he goes about his business and the way he plays the game, takes the ball under pressure, has the character, fizzes passes in, little things like that that players will learn off him as well. It’s great to have him as part of the squad”.
