DONS’ GLASS STILL HALF FULL
Lewis hopes to push on and end season on high
AFLURRY of unseasonal April snowfall greeted Aberdeen’s first away win in the Premiership since December.
For goalkeeper Joe Lewis, the hope now is that the Pittodrie side’s winter of discontent is finally over.
This 1-0 victory at McDiarmid Park was just a third win in 12 matches for the troubled Dons.
But the arrival of new manager Stephen Glass, whose reign officially starts tomorrow after being chosen to succeed Derek McInnes, boosts the positivity factor ahead of a Scottish Cup fourth-round tie at home to Livingston scheduled for next Sunday afternoon.
And after kicking off their postsplit fixtures with three precious points in Perth, Lewis is not for conceding third place to Hibs until the battle is officially lost.
‘There’s still loads to play for this season,’ the goalkeeper insisted. ‘Yes, third place is a big ask, but we believe that it is there for us.
‘We know we need to step it up a gear and continue to improve, but we’ve got the Scottish Cup to look forward to as well.
‘Livingston took a sore one against Celtic (losing 6-0) and they will be looking to bounce back and we know what they can do and what they’re capable of. But this result over St Johnstone will help us going into that last bit of the season.
‘With two wins in our last two matches, it’s a good position for the new manager coming in and I look forward to him starting this week.
‘I’ve had a couple of chats with him and he’s looking forward to the challenge and looking forward to coming in.
‘He’s not gone into too much detail yet, but we need to buy into the club’s philosophy of playing attacking football, bringing through young players and scoring goals.
‘We have struggled for goals but we will be looking to add to that.’
With Glass watching on television from his hotel room while completing his quarantine period, Aberdeen did not exactly start impressively.
Playing out from the back looked beyond them but St Johnstone failed to capitalise on the nervousness of the visitors.
‘The centre-halves split and we try and make the pitch as big as possible when in possession,’ explained Lewis.
‘You are asking the opposition to come and press you and if they don’t, then you play the ball out. If they do press, then you have to try and find the option.
‘It’s down to us to be brave in possession. There are risks and rewards... it’s sort of like a cat-andmouse game.
‘I know that if I get a back pass, I can take a touch and know that I’ve got the angles to find a team-mate.
‘There will be an option, but it’s just about executing my delivery and my pass, and then it’s up to the players receiving the ball to have a good first touch and get their head up. It’s something we’ve worked on.’
Aberdeen were certainly more in tune with the way they were being coached to play after the break.
When the only goal of the game arrived, it was down to a superb defence-splitting pass from Matty Kennedy.
Jonny Hayes ran on to the ball and he was able to hold off Shaun Rooney before firing beyond home goalkeeper Zander Clark.
Substitute Fraser Hornby, on for the anonymous Florian Kamberi, then missed a great chance to make it 2-0 when his point-blank header found the side netting.
Rooney thought he had equalised for Saints, but saw a header come back off the post.
Then Lewis made an important stop from Ali McCann’s angled drive to secure the three points
For the veteran goalkeeper, the fact five Aberdeen academy graduates — Jack MacKenzie, Dean Campbell, Calvin Ramsay, Ethan Ross and Connor McLennan — played their part in Perth was pleasing. Andy Considine is a sixth academy graduate but, at the age of 34, the veteran centre-half no longer belongs in the up-andcoming talent bracket.
‘Although it was only a 1-0 win, and some of the play was a bit edgy at times, a lot of it was really good,’ said Lewis. ‘Also, we’ve got a lot of young players. I think we had six academy graduates involved against St Johnstone.
‘Andy doesn’t count, but the other five certainly do!
‘You look at Dean and Connor especially and you forget how young they are because they’ve been around for quite a while.
‘But Jack MacKenzie has been
Third place is a big ask but we believe it is there for us
fantastic. All the young players have taken everything on board and they’ve played the way they have been asked to play away from home — on a terrible pitch.
‘They’ve played out from the back, taken risks and tried to draw St Johnstone on to us to then get past the press and eliminate some of their players. That shows a lot of character and it’s fantastic going forward.
‘We know that they’ve got the ability and hopefully that will give them belief.’
ST JOHNSTONE (5-3-2): Clark 6; Rooney 6, Gordon 6, Kerr 6, McCart 6, Booth 6 (Tanser 79); Conway 6 (O’Halloran 82), McCann 7, Bryson 6 (Melamed 79); Middleton 6 (May 70), Kane 5 (Wotherspoon 70). Subs not used: Parish, Craig, Gilmour. Booked: McCann.
ABERDEEN (4-4-2): Lewis 6; McCrorie 6, Hoban 6, Considine 6, MacKenzie 6; Kennedy 7 (McLennan 76), Campbell 6, Ferguson 6, Hayes 7 (Ross 90); McGinn 6 (Ramsay 76), Kamberi 4 (Hornby 46). Subs not used: Woods, McGeouch, Virtanen, Ruth, Duncan. Booked: Considine, McGinn. Man of the match: Jonny Hayes. Referee: John Beaton.