The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
‘Higher hopes for Europa’
Dons winger out to force way into Euros reckoning
Ryan Hedges hopes the revamped Europa League can help Aberdeen end their group stage hoodoo.
The Dons have yet to make the groups in six years of trying under Derek McInnes, with the third qualifying round the stumbling block on five occasions.
However, this year will see qualifying games reduced to one-off ties starting in August, which means the Dons will play five league games before they enter the first qualifying round of the Europa League on August 27. They will play four games to reach the group stages.
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced Uefa to rethink its competition format and while there are challenges to oneoff games, Hedges is optimistic Aberdeen can use it to their advantage.
He said: “Over one leg I would back us against anyone. If we can hit the ground running in the league hopefully we can take that form into Europe as well.” International chance,
The European Championships was one of the first big sporting casualties of the coronavirus pandemic.
When the tournament was pushed back a year it came with a sense of inevitability, given the logistics and travelling involved.
However, to Aberdeen’s Ryan Hedges, it presented a new opportunity.
He had been in the Wales camp when they qualified for their second Euros in succession, but found himself out of the Aberdeen side after November.
The opportunity could have slipped through his grasp.
But the extra 12 months gives him time to make sure he is in manager Ryan Giggs’s plans for the competition, which played a major part in his move to the Granite City in the first place.
“It is a huge incentive. Signing for Aberdeen that was one of the things in my head,” said Hedges.
“Just to be in the squad when they qualified for the Euros was a great feeling. They have games in September, October and November so hopefully I can be in and around the squad again.
“As I was not playing I was probably not going to be going. That was probably something that was really frustrating and was really affecting me, which I didn’t really realise. Now I have been given another opportunity.
“Every player has been given another opportunity when you look at Mikey Devlin and Scott McKenna with Scotland, and Matty Kennedy and Niall McGinn with Northern Ireland.
“We all have the opportunity to try to get to the Euros. As a footballer that is a great incentive.”
Had the tournament gone ahead this summer then Hedges may well have found himself on the outside looking in.
He began positively, scoring four goals and contributing eight assists by the end of November, but then he only started three games in the remainder of the season.
Hedges said: “It was an up and down season. I started well and got the goal against Hearts on the first day, which was massive.
“But after Christmas the starts dried up and when that happens the confidence gets dented.
“When you are playing week in week out there is no better feeling, but when you’re out it’s hard to replicate that form.
“But having the break has been good for me, it has allowed me to look at my game, see what I need to improve and get ready to attack this season now.”
After four months without a game, Hedges was relieved to get back on a pitch again.
Aberdeen played their first bounce game last weekend against Ross
County in a 2-2 draw, after weeks of training and testing for Covid-19 to ensure a safe return.
Hedges added: “It’s not a nice test but you have to get on with it, it’s a sacrifice you have to make to get back training again.
“The first few weeks we were back were strange, turning up 10 minutes before and then straight home again. It felt a bit like when you were 10 or 12, turning up taking a few shots, playing a game and then away again.
“It’s been good to get back after three months away from it, there is a bit of normality back. Training feels like pre-season usually does now, we have been doing the running and the work.
“It’s back to work for us and that’s what we have wanted.”