Hendry’s the hit man – with two goals in 11!
Callum Hendry can’t wait to meet new Aberdeen boss Stephen Glass.
He is one of only a few Dons players who can genuinely stake a claim to be part of the new regime taking over a Pittodrie.
The on-loan St Johnstone forward hit a late winner that stopped League One Dumbarton forcing extra-time in this Scottish Cup tie.
It was only Aberdeen’s second goal in 11 matches – and Hendry got the other one in a win against Kilmarnock.
Naturally, he was pleased to make the difference for caretaker manager Paul Sheerin but it’s Stephen Glass he has to impress to have any chance of make his move to the Dons a permanent one.
He said: “Paul has come in as caretaker and he is doing a great job.
“But everyone is also looking forward to meeting the new gaffer when he arrives.
“We knew it was going to be a hard game. Cup ties are always like this. You saw what it’s like on Friday with Inverness beating Ross County.
“There can always be a banana skin, so it was just important we got the win, no matter how we got it.”
Hendry doesn’t believe Aberdeen’s goal-scoring problem is down to a lack of confidence.
He went on: “I have been through dry patches in the past when I haven’t scored, but I haven’t lacked confidence. The boys are confident.
“We were bound to score as we were playing well. It was just about doing it the final third.
“When it was 0-0 at half-time I was thinking, Dumbarton are going to think they are going to do one on us here, so it was important we got the win.”
Hitting the net is the main thing that needs addressed by Stephen Glass when he completes a period of quarantine and gets his feet under the desk at Pittodrie.
A lack of goals was the main reason for the departure of Derek Mcinnes and Glass hopes to solve the problem by working with England striker coach Allan Russell.
There were chances passed up by Aberdeen – Kamberi pulled a shot wide from close early on and Ferguson was denied when Ramsbottom saved his header – but the problems are bigger than just finishing.
Too much of the visitors’ play was lacking the pace and precision needed to open up a deep-lying defence.
A lot of the men in red took an unnecessary extra touch instead of immediately playing the ball forward.
Dumbarton emerged from the game with a lot of credit.
You’d never have known they were playing their fourth game in a week and are currently sitting ninth out of 10 teams in League One.
Adam Frizzell beat the keeper with a lob early in the game, but saw his effort clear the crossbar.
There was a real scare for Aberdeen when half-time substitute Rabin Omar burst through on goal just after the restart and forced a great save from Lewis.
One bright spark for Dons was 17-year-old full-back Calvin Ramsey. He looked full of running on his first-team debut but had to leave the field with cramp after an hour.
It looked like the tie was heading for extra-time before Hendry came up with the classiest moment of the match.
The 23-year-old collected a pass from Kennedy and smashed it inside the post.
It’s the sort of goal Aberdeen need more of and they’re relying on Stephen Glass to make it happen.