ZACH: I’M READY TO REPAY GAFFER
ZACH HEMMING is determined to repay the faith and understanding of boss Derek McInnes by handing him a perfect Pittodrie return.
The keeper, 22, is ready to regain peak form after missing two months with a groin injury.
Hemming returned quicker than expected from the big setback, with McInnes sending the on-loan ace back to Middlesbrough to be among family for his rehabilitation.
Hemming believes that compassionate approach was the reason he got back so swiftly with his boss plunging him back into the side for the clash at Livingston before the international break.
The goalie said: “It’s always nice to be out for less time than you were due to. I tried to do as much as I could whenever I could in the hope I could get back earlier. Thankfully, that’s what happened.
“It was my first injury, I didn’t know how to handle it at first. I was living up here on my own and felt I’d maybe have struggled. But the manager told me to go home and be with my family.
“Looking back, that was definitely the best thing to do. I could do normal stuff away from rehab like taking the kids to school. I enjoyed it more because I had my family around me. I wasn’t on my own.
“I have to give my all for the club, I wanted to get back as quickly as possible.” McInnes had to deal with the Kyle Lafferty investigation in the build-up to today with the club issuing a fine and a potential 10-game ban for the striker looming after an SFA charge.
But it will be special for the boss to go back to the club he managed for eight years.
Hemming added: “It’s going to be a big day for the gaffer going back to Aberdeen. Hopefully I can repay him with a good performance and get a result for the team.”