I hope I’m not left to Stew over another Cup exit
PARKHEAD REACTION
GREG STEWART is still haunted by last season’s Scottish Cup semi-final shocker against Motherwell that ruined his summer.
The Aberdeen loanee is desperate to make amends as he targets a Hampden return when they take on Rangers in tomorrow’s quarter-final replay.
Stewart hopes the Reds can take confidence from ending Celtic’s perfect domestic home record in a 0-0 draw on Saturday.
Derek McInnes now takes his side to the other side of the city as they aim to win a Scottish Cup tie against Rangers at Ibrox for the first time in 44 years.
Arthur Graham and Duncan Davidson were on target on that occasion in a replay victory after a 1-1 draw at Pittodrie, the same scoreline as last Sunday when the teams first met.
Holders Celtic await the winners in the last four next month and for Birmingham loan star Stewart, who spent the first half of the season at Kilmarnock, it’s a chance to make up for their 3-0 defeat to the Steelmen last season.
As the Dons prepare for a quickfire Glasgow return in the second part of a huge Old Firm, double header, the 28-year-old BY GAVIN BERRY said: “I played in the semi-final defeat to Motherwell last season and it still eats away at me now. It did all last summer.
“It was a massive opportunity to get to another final and I then left. So again it’s now a trophy I’m hoping to win.
“I didn’t think I would get the chance again. But that’s football for you, isn’t it?”
He netted at Ibrox in a 1-1 draw for Killie earlier this season and hopes the Dons can make the Rangers fans nervous by keeping it tight.
He said: “We won’t be fearful of Tuesday’s game. It always is nervy when you go to Ibrox if it’s 1-1 or it’s a draw and they’re trying to press and the fans are looking for that goal.
“It’s something when you play at Ibrox and Rangers don’t start well then the fans start asking questions. When you come to Aberdeen you want to win cups.
“It’s just part of what happens up there.
“You go there to win trophies, so it’s just as big a game for both teams. You need to have a strong mentality coming to places like Parkhead. I’ve felt like that at Aberdeen, especially the last few times we’ve come through to Glasgow for games.
“Even last season when I was here, we came to Parkhead and won on the last day of the season which was a massive win. We are full of confidence now when we come to Glasgow.
“It’s a big game for both sides, both want to win the Cup. Whoever has the best nerve will come out on top.”
Aberdeen have lost just once in five meetings with Rangers this season and Stewart reckons they should have won the first tie at Pittodrie after taking the lead in the first half.
He said: “I feel we do have the players to hurt Rangers. We should have won the home tie as I felt we created the most chances again.
“I felt like we created the best chances against Celtic too but we need to take opportunities, we need to be a bit more ruthless.
“We obviously wanted to go to Parkhead and put in a good performance knowing we’ve got a massive game on Tuesday.
“But we also had to put Tuesday to the back of our minds. The first half wasn’t too great. I felt we didn’t use the ball well enough.
“At half-time the gaffer said we must show more going forward, keeping the ball and staying calm and hopefully creating more chances.
“I thought we did that second half and were unlucky not to score. We were solid at the back. Big Joe in goals put in a great performance and in the second half I thought we were unlucky not to score.
“We were full of confidence and feel like we can win the game if we put our gameplan on to it. The first half it didn’t go too well but we showed more than enough second half that we could’ve nicked it.”
Aberdeen won seven away games in a row before their draw at Parkhead and Stewart said: “I don’t know why we’re doing so well away from home. Maybe it just suits the way we play.
“We were going for eight wins in a row in the Celtic game but we’ve not lost and that’s the main thing. We just keep that undefeated run away from home going.
“We were solid at the back against Celtic. We felt like we weren’t going to concede, it just had that feel about it.”