Lewis set on keeping clean sheet to set up Hampden win for Aberdeen

● Dons keeper says shutout is more relevant than number of goals scored

A clean sheet, Aberdeen’s first in nine games, heartened Lewis far more than the six goals the Pittodrie side rattled past Partick Thistle. This prolific bout of scoring follows matches earlier this year in which they hit seven goals against Dundee and Motherwell within a matter of weeks.

But Lewis believes what happens at the other end could be key to Aberdeen’s chances of upsetting Celtic in tomorrow’s Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park – and he might well be right.

While Aberdeen carry a clear threat up front they’ve not given themselves a chance to prosper against the Parkhead side in five meetings to date this season, conceding 12 times.

In the most recent of those fixtures, the 3-1 defeat earlier this month, they lost all three goals in the opening 11 minutes. At the League Cup final at Hampden in November, a perhaps more relevant reference point given tomorrow’s venue, Aberdeen were two down and out of contention by half-time.

Keeping Celtic out for as long as possible is the recipe for success. So Lewis won’t apologise for preferring to concentrate on what the defence did right against Thistle rather than applaud the half-dozen goals, which included a hat-trick by youngster Scott Wright.

Aberdeen hadn’t kept the opposition out since a 1-0 win over Inverness in early April.

“We always carry a good threat going forward and it was nice to get a clean sheet really,” he said. “It’s been a long time coming for us.

“They [Celtic] do carry a threat and like we have all said to each other in the dressing room we know we need to be at it for 90 minutes,” he added. “It is just making sure we don’t let our concentration slip. They’ve got good quality players and if you do give them opportunities and switch off then we know they will punish us. We need to make sure that doesn’t happen and we are at it for the whole duration of the game.”

The post kick-off collapse

0 Aberdeen goalkeeper Joe Lewis is determined to drive to Norfolk to show his father a Scottish Cup winner’s medal. against Celtic is recent enough to prove helpful in that it stresses how Aberdeen need to be fully focused from the very start.

“Definitely, that is something we need to learn from,” said Lewis. “We need to start the game well because that will be important. The start will be massive. If we can play like we did in the last 75 minutes against them then we will give ourselves a great chance of lifting the trophy.”

Aberdeen haven’t made a habit of winning significant games in Glasgow in recent times. So another recent result is proving instructive in an encouraging sense.

The Pittodrie side’s 2-1 win over Rangers at Ibrox last midweek was their first at the stadium since 1991. Lewis claims that victory proved something