Lewis spots chance to slience the trolls

WHEN Adam Rooney signed for Salford City on Thursday — a lucrative move for a player at an advanced stage in his career — it gifted ammunition to the English football supporters who peer down their nose at the Scottish game.

A striker who scored 88 goals in 197 appearances leaving Aberdeen, for the fifth tier south of the border; it’s a transfer that supports the fallacy purported by online trolls that their grandmothers could score in the Scottish Premiership.

Just as well, then, that the Dons have a chance to demonstrate what they’re capable of against Premier League opposition in the Europa League when they face Burnley.

Joe Lewis, who spent all of his career down south before moving to Aberdeen in 2016, has seen the comments on social media. For the 30-year-old, it’s the chance to prove to some of his fellow countrymen that he made the right decision in coming north.

He said: ‘It’s a great opportunity for us to show people in England what level we’re at. And for individual players just to compete against some of the best players in the game.

‘A team finishing seventh in the Premier League must have some of the world’s best players.

‘In every big game you play in, you want to prove a point to people and showcase what you’ve got. It’s a chance for me to show where I’m at in my career and how I’m performing.

‘No one from England has criticised the level of Scottish football to me. It would be pretty rude if they did! But there will always be people who look down on it, especially online. You see the odd joke from trolls.’

Aberdeen regularly punch above their weight and Lewis pointed to their victory on the final day of last season in front of 60,000 supporters at Celtic Park as proof that they can compete with the Clarets.

Lewis added: ‘To go there and get a win, get a clean sheet and play the way we did should give us a lot of confidence going into this game against Burnley.’