Andy’s silver lining
Considine hopes Dons’ Euro exit will help title bid
FOR Aberdeen, the euphoric highs of successful trips to Macedonia and Croatia were ultimately followed by an agonising Europa League elimination by Kairat Almaty of Kazakhstan.
After clocking up thousands of miles on their European travels, however, Derek McInnes’ side have also undergone something of a voyage of self-discovery.
Amid the heartbreak at being narrowly pipped 3-2 on aggregate, after a 1-1 draw at Pittodrie on Thursday night, there was also a growing sense of assurance that the Dons can go toe-to-toe with strong teams like Kairat and the Croatians of Rijeka — with the latter unbeaten at home since 2009 until a stunning 3-0 win for Aberdeen there last month.
Now that the Pittodrie club’s focus is solely on domestic matters, however, defender Andrew Considine is hoping the confidence gained on the continent can lead to a greater challenge to Celtic in this season’s Premiership title race.
Last season, the Dons valiantly chased down Ronny Deila’s men until the signings of Gary Mackay-Steven and Stuart Armstrong from Dundee United in January helped propel the Parkhead club over the horizon and to a League and Cup Double. But Considine is hoping the Dons make i t even more difficult for the champions to retain their crown this campaign.
‘I really do feel we can push Celtic further this year,’ he insisted.
‘ I think our performances in Europe have shown that we are a strong team. We would now like to do better this year in the cup competitions and in the league.
‘I feel the team spirit is even stronger this year and the squad is a lot stronger, too. Kenny McLean, in particular, has been fantastic with four goals i n five games already this season. He is in great form and long may it continue.
‘We need to show consistency week in, week out in the league. There were games last year when we stumbled towards the end of the campaign, so we need to show some real resilience this year.
‘It’s difficult to know whether we can run Celtic close for the title. When we were pushing them last year around Christmas time, they went out and splashed the cash.
‘They took Dundee United’s two best players off them because they knew we were on their tails. They have that luxury, which I suppose we don’t really have.
‘But we want to push them all the way this year. I feel playing these really competitive games against teams like Rijeka and Kairat, who both have really top players, will stand us in good stead for the season ahead.’
Trailing 2-1 from the away leg in Kazakhstan, Gerard Gohou’s second-half goal for Kairat silenced a full-house at Pittodrie and seemed to put the tie beyond doubt.
However, yet another goal from McLean set up a grandstand finish, which saw substitute Paul Quinn nearly take the game to extra- time with a header five minutes into some fairly theatrical and ill-tempered injury time.
‘If the game had gone on another two minutes, we would have nicked something,’ sighed Considine.
‘Kairat were a good team but towards the end of the game, they looked pretty desperate. We were on top for the whole game. We were first to every first ball, and every second ball, but we just weren’t as clinical as they were.
‘Going out was a tough one to take and we were all down on our hands and knees at the end. But Kairat are a good team and the boys can hold their heads high, because they were superb over both legs.’
Aberdeen’s task now is to bounce back tomorrow at Pittodrie against a Kilmarnock side still smarting from losing 4-0 at home to Dundee on the opening day of the season.
‘It is going to be a tough game,’ warned Considine, whose team kicked off with a 1-0 win at Dundee United on the opening weekend.
‘There are no easy games and Killie will be coming up here and looking to get a result. We will need to be on our toes because we want to show the fans we mean business in the league this year.
‘We will dust ourselves down, get our rest and then give it all we have got. Fingers crossed we get the right result. We are looking strong this year. Hopefully, teams will find us tough to beat.’