Defender hails most emotional six days of his career

Aberdeen defender Andy Considine described his whirlwind Scotland experience as “the most emotional six days of his career.”

The 33-year-old was handed his debut in Sunday’s 1-0 win against Slovakia and maintained his place in the national team for Wednesday’s victory against the Czech Republic by the same scoreline.

Considine said: “From getting the call, it was the most emotional six days of my career.

“I was on the road down to train with the team first thing on Friday morning. I trained with them on Friday and Saturday and I wasn’t sure if I would get any game time. But I was lucky that a space became available due to injury.

“We did a walk-through of the shape on the Sunday morning and that was when the manager told me I would be playing.

“I didn’t have much time to think about it as the game was that night. It was just a case of ‘ here we go’.”

Considine says he will not forget the moment he told his family – especially his father, former Dons player Doug.

He added: “The first port of call was to phone my wife who was on her way to get her hair done.

“She is 34 weeks pregnant and was crying at the wheel and I was telling her ‘Please pull over.’

“It would take a lot for my dad to be reduced to any sort of tears so that was a moment he was probably was going to shed a tear.

“I then spoke to my siblings who were over the moon.

“To be part of two games, winning both and keeping the back door shut was great to be a part of.”

The season may have changed but the objectives for Aberdeen Women remain the same.

The pandemic prompted the cancellation of the original 2020 season after just one round of games, before the decision was taken to align it with a traditional winter calendar.

The Dons have been building towards a return to the top flight of women’ s football in Scotland after an unbeaten 2019 season that took them into the second tier.

Emma Hunter remains as one half of the managerial duo but after Harley Ham dan i’ s emigration to Australia, Stuart Bathgate has stepped into the comanager role.

A home fixture against Dundee United starts their season at Cormack Park on Sunday, with fervent hopes the Dons are celebrating come April 2021.

“We’ve been quite clear on that, we’re trying to get ourselves back into PL1,” said Bathgate.

“No one’s made any secret of that.

“Getting the players back and through the first few weeks of the season unscathed is a big thing. It’s been so long without football so to be able to come through that, without any serious injuries, is a key thing for us to keep the squad together.

“The season that never was saw us bring in a couple of new faces at the start of the year.

“We’ve only really lost one or two and that’s down to work commitments, which is comp le te ly understandable.

“We’ ve managed to recruit Bailey Collins from Aberdeen Ladies under- 19s, which has been great for her.

“We’re always looking to add quality but we’re comfortable with where we’re at.”

Bathgate, formerly of Westdyke Ladies, has thrown himself headlong into his new role, which came just before football shut down at the start of the year.

Having a season to prepare for has helped on a personal level too, with Bathgate recently losing his job working in sales in the oil and gas industry.

“It’s been good to have that to keep the mind occupied so you’re not dwelling on stuff,” he added.

“We’ve had a few preseason friendlies – we managed to pick up a game against Dundee United, bizarrely before we knew we were going to be playing them ( on the first day).

“That was hastily arranged after they were let down at the 11th hour.

“We had an internal bounce game, Hibs and For far back-to-back, which have been really good tests for us.”

Aberdeen FC Women co-manager Stuart Bathgate.