Hampden trip is a lifelong dream for Greg
Greg Stewart will head to Hampden with Aberdeen on Saturday, hoping to banish the frustrations of a testing season with a well-placed swing of his boot.
Brought up on loan from Birmingham City last June, the 28-year-old has failed to make the sort of impact witnessed in previous spells north of the border with Dundee and Cowdenbeath.
Yet, as the striker argued, Saturday’ s showpiece Scottish Cup semi-final offers an opportunity for instant redemption.
One he is determined not to miss.
“I have been in and out of the team, and it is probably true I have not taken my chance as well as I’d have wanted to,” said Stewart.
“We have a big squad – full of lots of good players – so if you are not at it, you are going to miss out.
“But I have been doing OK the last couple of games, and if I stick one in the bag at Hampden, it can all be forgotten. It is as easy as that.
“The semi is one of those games, a one- off. You can be a hero.
“It will be a special day for me because I have never played at Hampden before.
“As a young boy, that was one of the things you always wanted to do, so I will be like a little kid again.
“From the club’s point of view, too, one of the ambitions was to get to a Cup Final and here we are potentially within 90 minutes of one.
“Get through and, well, you never know what can happen. So, as I say, we are really looking forward to it.
“The semi is a cup tie and one that both sides will be going all out to win.”
Aberdeen ran out comfortable victors when the teams met at Fir Park in the league last Tuesday, but the same could be said of the Steelmen’s win in the pair’s League Cup clash in Lanarkshire, back in September.
“Motherwell are a really good side this season, who have already beaten us twice, so we felt we had a point to prove in mid week ,” Stewart went on.
“We weren’t really thinking about the semis, we just wanted to go there and get back to business.
“The conditions weren’t great, a bit waterlogged with the pitch getting a bit heavy. But I thought we did a good job.
“I don’t think the fact we meet again so quickly is especially significant. It is just one of those things, another hurdle to overcome.
“We are at the business end of the season, so you are going to be expecting to be playing a good side, and Motherwell are a good side.
“But having been unlucky in last year’s Final, we really want to win it this time. With the squad we have, we all feel we can go and do that.”