Dutch give Aberdeen Euro boost
ABERDEEN will get an extra fortnight’s grace before returning to the year-round demands of competitive football — thanks to Feyenoord claiming their first Dutch title in 18 years. In the wake of Ajax reaching the Europa League Final, there has been a knock-on effect on coefficients for UEFA competitions. And the luckiest bounce in a complicated mathematical system has fallen to the Dons — who will now go straight into the second qualifying round of the Europa League. Derek McInnes’ men will also be seeded, meaning they have a great chance of reaching the group stage. But the immediate bonus is not having to kick off their competitive season in the first qualifying round, which would have meant being ready to play on June 29. With a number of players
likely to be on international duty until the middle of June, the Scottish Cup finalists could have been heading into tricky Europa League qualifiers — with huge consequences — fielding men who had played almost straight through since the start of this season. Aberdeen forward Niall McGinn, despite being expected to leave Pittodrie when his contract expires at the end of the season, is nevertheless aware of what a bonus that extra down time will be to Derek McInnes’ men. ‘It’s going to be massive for the club and also for the players to get that extra two weeks off,’ said McGinn. ‘After the Scottish Final, I’m more or less straight away for internationals and don’t finish until June 11. ‘But for the rest of the boys, it’s been a very long season. Getting to the final of the League Cup and also the Scottish Cup, there have been a lot of games played. ‘Knowing the boys and how they are, they will manage. ‘But this will be a massive reward for finishing second. Even looking back over the last two or three years. ‘Motherwell pipped us to second with the last kick of the season and they got the extra summer break, so it’s been difficult. The boys don’t complain, though. They work hard and get on with it and that’s shown in the consistency of the team over the past two years. ‘The boys really want to keep progressing massively in this Europa League. ‘To get into the next round is a major bonus and to be seeded would be an even bigger plus as well. ‘There’s obviously great optimism within the club that we can get a bit of luck to get to the group stage because that would be unbelievable.’ Of more immediate concern, however, is how the Dons finish this season, with a league game against Rangers at Ibrox on Wednesday evening an opportunity to bounce back from Friday night’s 3-1 home defeat to Scottish Premiership champions Celtic. And McGinn is adamant McInnes’ side must
show a durability absent from their most recent meetings with the Old Firm. ‘I don’t think we owe Rangers one,’ the Northern Irishman argued, referring to their 3-0 defeat to the Ibrox club at Pittodrie last month. ‘We just have to go there and put on a good display. ‘It was a very frustrating game at Pittodrie when we lost to Rangers. You could see on the day that we were the better side and created more chances again ‘One thing we need to get out of our game is that, when we concede one goal, we can’t be losing two and three very quickly. ‘That happened in the last Rangers game and it happened again against Celtic last Friday. ‘We need to get on to the training ground and work hard defensively, same with attacking. ‘We can always improve as a team and we have to look at that previous Rangers game — and the first 10 minutes against Celtic on Friday — and learn from it.’ Sheffield United, Bolton Wanderers and Ipswich Town are among the English clubs chasing McGinn, who admits he will always reflect fondly on his time with Aberdeen. ‘I’ve loved every minute since I’ve been here,’ he said. ‘It has revitalised my career and got it back on track. ‘I thank Craig Brown for bringing me into Aberdeen and it’s been very enjoyable working under Derek McInnes. ‘It’s been a really great spell for me, so we’ll just see what happens in the next month or so. ‘Winning a Scottish Cup winner’s medal would top off a great stint of being here. To get that and the trophy in my hands would be unbelievable.’