I HAD TROLLS SAYIWASONE OF THE EIGHT
EUROPA COUNTDOWN
BY SCOTT BURNS
LEWIS FERGUSON hopes the Aberdeen Eight can move on from their Covid-19 scandal after he was wrongly accused of being one of them.
The Dons were put into cold storage after their coronavirus outbreak but since then have come back strongly with Premiership wins over St Johnstone and Livingston.
Scotland Under-21 ace Ferguson was the star man against Livi on Sunday but keyboard warriors had previously given him abuse online, making the mistake of thinking he was one the Pittodrie players who flouted Covid rules.
As the Reds geared up for their Europa League qualifier with NSI Runavik at Pittodrie on Thursday, Ferguson said: “I tried to stay off social media. I wasn’t involved but I was getting stick.
“I knew, and folk close to me, that it wasn’t me who was involved. I was okay with that.
“The boys were always going to come out and talk and apologise so it was always going to be clear the players who were involved but we have all moved on.
“It is in the past and we are looking forward to the game, hoping we can get back to our best.”
Craig Bryson, Scott McKenna, Dylan McGeouch, Matty Kennedy, Jonny Hayes, Bruce Anderson, Mikey Devlin and Sam Cosgrove could all yet face punishment over their Covid-19 breaches when they are put in front of a SFA disciplinary hearing on Friday.
Whatever happens,
Ferguson still believes Aberdeen have more than enough quality to cope.
He believes the return to fitness and form of Scott Wright, who also scored against Livingston, could be a big for the team.
Ferguson said: “I am delighted for Scott. He has worked as hard as he could and suffered a horrendous injury last season.”
Aberdeen are still to hit top gear but Ferguson knows it is all about getting the right result against Runavik on Thursday.
The Faroese minnows played Hibs a few seasons ago and easily beat Welsh side Barry Town in the last round but Ferguson admitted the Dons will have to rely heavily on the knowledge of manager Derek McInnes and his scouting team.
He said: “The gaffer and his staff have been looking at them. We’ve looked at videos to see their weaknesses and threats.
“We will know what we need to do before Thursday and that will be drilled into us by the gaffer.
“Hopefully we can put on a better performance than we have shown over the last two games but it doesn’t really matter as long as we are winning.
“I’m looking forward to the tie and it should be a different test.”