Andy’s missus is mum of the match
Dad will do nicely as she delivers in nick of time
ANDREW CONSIDINE might have been earning the plaudits this season after his Scotland heroics but as far as Derek McInnes is concerned it’s the stopper’s wife Madeleine who deserves a five-star rating.
The Aberdeen defender’s wife gave birth to son Arthur yesterday meaning the proud dad will be free to face St Mirren today.
That appearance will take him joint-fifth on Aberdeen’s all-time list and Dons boss McInnes is relieved the latest member of the Considine clan arrived between the midweek Hamilton match and today’s tie in Paisley, with his squad stretched through injury and Covid issues.
McInnes has already confirmed the Scotland star will start against the Buddies to tie Jim Leighton on 535 appearances.
He said: “Thankfully Andy’s wife gave birth this morning.
“That was one of the concerns we have but his wife Madeleine has played an absolute blinder in having the baby through the night.
“We were concerned she would go into labour on Wednesday.
“Andy got some much-needed sleep on Friday and thankfully he will be available.”
McInnes insists Considine has improved with age and expects to see the 33-year-old climb further up the all-time Pittodrie appearance list while never troubling Willie Miller’s haul of 797 games.
The Dons gaffer said: “It is brilliant achievement for Andy, an Aberdeen supporter, to accumulate that amount of games.
“There is no sign of him letting up and he has many games ahead of him. Obviously Jim Leighton went to Manchester United and played at other clubs such as Hibs.
“To get into that category with an Aberdeen legend like Jim is very rare in the modern day.”
McInnes knows St Mirren might see hisis side as vulnerable with their squad down to the bare bones but has chal-challengedd his squad to prove otherwise.rwise.
He said: “StMirrenStMirren are one of the teams who have found a bit of form throughugh the League Cup and it is going to help them in their league campaign.paign.
I think teams will maybe fancy their chances against us when they see we have our issues at the moment.
“We have to counter that and show our strength as a club and as a squad to progress in the cup.
“We have spoken about how important the cups are financially, helping the club through the rounds and into cup finals.
“It is the first cup competition of this season and one we want to do well in.
“We don’t have our troubles to seek but we still feel we can go down there and be good enough to get a result and get into the next round, which is the most important thing in any cup competition.” Dean CampbelCampbell’s return to fitness after a metatarsalmet injury, has helped ease Aberdeen’s midfield options,options with Lewis Ferguson, Scott WWright, Dylan McGeouch anand Connor McLennan all unavailable.un The teenateenager was still part of theth Dons’ youth academy the last time thethey lifted the LLeague Cup back in 2014 and travelled to Glasgow with his family and friends for the penalty shoot-out win over Inverness.
Campbell said: “I was at the final in 2014. I would have been 13.
“It was an amazing day, such a memorable experience for the club and the whole city. It’s a day I’ll never forget as a fan.
“When I went to cup games as a fan, my parents and my mates used to rent a bus and we’d all go together and stop for lunch on the way down to games.
“We did that with all the semifinals and finals we got to.
“I can’t really remember where we used to stop, just some of the regular places. Just somewhere the guys could get a pint and we just got dragged along!
“There are plenty good memories from those games.
“The cup is such an important thing for this club and we want to try to enjoy it again this season.”
Campbell had to miss the open-top bus parade after that final because he was lifting silverware of his own with the Dons youth team.
He said: “I think it was the St Andrews tournament and we always went there with the youth academy.
“A lot of the SPFL teams were there but we won it that year.”