Ferguson admits he has been dreaming of another Hampden glory goal
This time last year, Lewis Ferguson hadn’t even made his top-flight debut for Hamilton Accies but the Aberdeen midfielder has a realistic chance of making his dreams come true by scoring the winner in Sunday’s Betfred Cup final against Celtic.
The teenager frustrated his Rangers-supporting family and friends with the goal which defeated Steven Gerrard’s side in last month’s semi-final and admits to fantasising about a repeat.
Ferguson’s first start against a Premiership side was for Hamilton in a losing Scottish Cup tie at Fir Park last January, while Saturday’s return there for a league game with the Dons turned into a bit of a nightmare with a 3-0 thumping from Motherwell.
Not that Ferguson is unduly worried about that first defeat in five games for Aberdeen as the Dons have yet to concede a goal in the Betfred Cup and the last round proved that neither he nor the team have anything to fear.
He said: “That was a special momentformeandtheteam.
“Hopefully we can prepare well and go into the
cup final in the same way as we did against Rangers.
“Defensively we were excellent in that match and I’m sure the defensive side of things will be good again.
“We will just be looking for a spark up front, and whether it’s a ball through from Niall Mcginn or a cross from Gary Mackay-steven I’m just dreaming about scoring the winner.
“My brothers and my pals always ask me if I get nervous before these games but I don’t feel anything like that as I just see it as a game of football. I just go out and do my best and I’m not fazed by the atmosphere or the big stage. I just relax and don’t really think of it too much.
“It makes me want to do better against the big-name players and show that I’m just as good a player as them.”
The 19-year-old, signed for a compensation fee of £250,000 decided by a tribunal in the summer, did not have to look far for inspiration, with dad Derek and uncle Barry both previously stars at Ibrox.
But he revealed that it was an attacking midfielder who played in the blue of Chelsea that was the biggest influence on his playing style.
Fergusonadded:“iwatched a lot of Frank Lampard when he played as, since I was a wee boy, I always wanted to be that sort of box-to-box midfielder.
“The way he would arrive late and score lots of goals was what I liked and I tried to take some of the things that he did on board.
“That was the player that I really looked up to when he was doing so well at Chelsea, to see his timing of the runs forward.
“He had it all as he could get about the pitch, get up and down all day and was a great finisher as well.
“Lampard scored loads of goals and that is the sort of player that I’ve aspired to be since I was a youngster.
“But the gaffer is always on to me in training that I need to score more goals because the only one before the semifinal then Kilmarnock was against Burnley in July.
“I probably do need to score more but I have been playing deeper recently and when I do get the chance to break forward I think I’ve got goals in my game.”
“Whether it’s a ball through from Niall Mcginnoracrossfrom Gary Mackay-steven I’m dreaming about scoring the winner”