Ramadani is feeling right at home
Albanian aiming to kick on with Dons
YLBER RAMADANI admits he is feeling the love at Aberdeen after he scored his first goal for the club in Friday night’s 4-1 victory against Hibernian. The Albania international joined the Dons in the summer from MTK Budapest in a £100,000 deal but faced a delay before he could pull on a red shirt as his visa application process took time to be completed.
Ramadani continued to play a waiting game on the pitch to get off the mark for his new club until his sweet volley made it 3-0 to Aberdeen under the Pittodrie lights.
In front of 16,479 supporters, the 26-year-old was delighted to contribute to a success which
saw Jim Goodwin’s men
I’m happy to have scored my first goal. I hope there is more to come
leapfrog Hibs into third spot in the Premiership as the hosts ensured they have still only lost once at home all season.
‘I’m so happy to have scored my first goal for Aberdeen but I am more pleased that we won the game,’ said Ramadani. ‘We needed to bounce back from the Rangers game but I hope there are many more goals to come from me.
‘It was a good strike and when I saw it was coming I said to myself that I had to hit the target and thankfully it went in. It was a relief for me as the fans have been waiting for me to score and when it went in I was so happy.
‘The fans seem to like me and I feel the same about them. The players and the fans, we are all in it together and that’s the most important thing for us.
‘I’m loving it here. I am the type of player who wants more from himself in every game. I try to improve all the time and I know how big this club is. I am playing the best football of my career here so far. The manager has confidence in me. I know he rates me.’
Ramadani was reunited with former MTK team-mate Bojan Miovski this summer and the Macedonian striker has already proved to be a hit in the scoring charts.
Miovski — eventually — netted from the penalty spot against Hibs in the eighth minute of first-half stoppage time after VAR ruled Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes wasn’t offside and was fouled by keeper David Marshall.
Despite seeing his penalty saved, Miovski was handed a lifeline when Marshall was penalised for coming off his line and the frontman made no mistake at the second attempt.
He grabbed his brace and 11th of the season in all competitions with a header after the break before Ramadani and Leighton Clarkson sealed the victory for the hosts, while Hibs striker Mykola Kukharevych made it 3-1 after VAR had initially ruled he was offside.
Miovski (right), a £535,000 purchase, currently trails Rangers striker Antonio Colak by one goal in the Premiership but Ramadani believes he can overtake the Croat.
‘Am I surprised by how many goals Bojan has scored? Not at all, I knew he would do well,’ said Ramadani. ‘Last
season at MTK, we both scored in the same game, so it was nice to do it again here.
‘He has got 11 goals so far this season and that’s a good return and I hope he can keep that up. If we want to succeed this season, his goals will be really important for us. ‘I think he can finish the season as the top scorer in the Scottish Premiership. He is such a quality player and he is young and he is improving game by game. He scored two goals against Hibs and he wanted more — and that’s what you want to see. ‘When he missed the first penalty, I went over to speak to him and I told him he knew what he
had to do with the second one. I just felt he needed someone to say something to him. I told him to just do it and he said he would, so I was glad when he scored.’
Inconsistency threatens to derail Hibs’ bid to finish third and, having held his hands up for failing to mark Miovski for the second goal, midfielder Joe Newell knows the team need to get their act together.
‘Last week we won 3-0 (against St Mirren) and I think we are in a good place but we need to maybe go about things differently,’ he said. ‘I can only speak for myself but it is a kick up the a***. You can’t get done like I did.
‘We need to look at ourselves, keep working hard and believing in ourselves as we are more than good enough to finish third in this league.’