I have no desire to depart the Dons... it has been a great move for me
DEREK McINNES told his Aberdeen players what they wanted to hear recently when he ended all speculation regarding a return to Rangers and insisted his future remained at Pittodrie. Now goalkeeper Joe Lewis has indicated that he’s ready to join several of his fellow Dons stars in committing to their manager’s long-term project. Adam Rooney, Andrew Considine, Graeme Shinnie and Jonny Hayes have all recently extended their contracts at Pittodrie, with the 29-year-old No 1 set to do likewise just eight months into a two-year deal.
It’s a mark of the impact made by Lewis, formerly a member of Fabio Capello’s England squad, that talks are already under way and there is no doubt he is keen to comply.
Frozen out at Cardiff City because of the form of Scotland international David Marshall, which led to frustrating loan spells with Blackpool and Fulham, he’s now back to the level of performance that earned him a move to the Welsh club in the first place.
Lewis heads to Hamilton tonight determined to keep his 16th clean sheet of the season and secure the win which would see Aberdeen move 12 points clear of Rangers in the battle for second place and then help himself to an extended stay in the Granite City.
‘I am enjoying it fantastically here. I have a good relationship with the club and the fans,’ he said. ‘You never know what can happen in the future, but I have no desire to look elsewhere.
‘It’s good to know that the club want me to stay. It makes you feel good that the manager obviously thinks you’ve done something right.
‘You constantly have something to prove in football and, because I hadn’t played for a while, I had to become a No 1 somewhere. At Cardiff, I had David Marshall in front of me, who had two fantastic seasons when I was there. There was no way round him.
‘That was why I wanted to come here. I knew I’d get the chance to play and it has been a great decision because the atmosphere around the place is great. When you are winning games like we are, it’s even more enjoyable.
‘But all I will do is focus on my football and keep doing my best for the team. I leave all that sort of stuff (contract talks) to my agent. They get a bad press, but that’s what they are for. You leave that side of it to them.’
McInnes has had less success so far in persuading Ash Taylor, Peter Pawlett, Niall McGinn and captain Ryan Jack to extend their current contracts beyond the summer, but expects movement on that by the middle of next month.
Whatever happens, Lewis has warned Celtic and Rangers that Aberdeen will be an even tougher proposition next season as their manager will have plans in place to make sure they continue to improve.
‘I knew Celtic would be very strong this season and they have been fantastic, but this club has been in second place for the last few seasons, so the aim was to kick on with that again,’ he said.
‘We have been improving throughout this season and the hope is to keep that going and build something special.
‘I think we’re doing that. The lads who have signed on again think that, as well. So if we can add to the squad in the summer again, then we’ll develop further.
‘We want to push on as a club in the years ahead, but the team is already going through a very consistent run right now. Defensively, we have been brilliant this season. The lads at the back all have a good understanding with each other.
‘We take a lot of pride in our defensive record. We always aim for clean sheets. There’s strength in depth throughout the squad and we have guys like Anthony O’Connor waiting to get back in.’
Jayden Stockley misses out again tonight with a shoulder injury picked up at Kilmarnock, but the striker is expected to be fit for Sunday’s Scottish Cup quarter-final tie at home to Partick Thistle. Aberdeen are odds-on favourites to make it 11 wins from their last 12 games, as bottom club Hamilton have won just three times all season in the Premiership, but one of those victories came against the Dons on their last visit to the Superseal Stadium in October.
‘Any game where you don’t play to your level, you’re vulnerable to not getting a result,’ warned McInnes.
‘Last time out they got their goal early on. We were aggrieved at the decision at the time. It gave them something to hold on to, but our own performance from then on wasn’t always convincing, either. We can’t just blame the decision.
‘It’s a reminder that we need to start right and the first goal is always important in any game, but maybe more so down there.’ Having just come off the back of a 2-0 defeat at Celtic Park, Hamilton couldn’t have wished for a tougher next opponent than the high-flying Dons. But boss Martin Canning says his team’s performances have been better than their league position suggests, albeit he accepts the urgent need for wins. ‘We have beaten Aberdeen this season and that shows how tight it is,’ he said. ‘If we win (tonight) before the other teams play, we could be a few places up the league, so it’s all to play for. Aberdeen have a lot of attacking threat, but we have to believe we can beat them again. ‘Saturday was a good performance again from us as it was a difficult place to go to. But we need to stop saying performances have been good and start winning games, which is the most important thing.’