Connor Barron is desperate to make up for lost time to injury by helping Aberdeen prove they’re in rude health.
And he knows booking a trip to Hampden on Wednesday would be the perfect start. The midfielder made his long-awaited return to the starting line-up after a three-month lay-off in Sunday’s 2-0 win over Hearts that hoisted the Dons into fourth place.
Next up is a Premier Sports Cup quarter final against Partick Thistle at Pittodrie and Barron is determined to hand the Red Army a day out at the national stadium. The 20-year-old was one of the few shining lights in the north east last season as Aberdeen slumped to a 10th place finish and failed to get beyond the last 16 of both national cup competitions. But after a summer overhaul there’s a fresh vigour about the Dons and Barron - who is in talks over a new deal - is eager to be right at the heart of the revival after overcoming his knee injury.
The Scotland U21 star said: “It’s been a long 12 weeks. I’m just delighted to be back out there.
“It wasn’t the greatest of games against Hearts on the ball but it was one you really had to dig deep, win your battles in the middle and we did that. The injury came at a bad time, the start of the season in a friendly against Buckie, It’s a hard one to take but it’s part and parcel of football.
“I had a little niggle before on my knee so I knew what to expect. I tried to force myself back a bit too early and it didn’t work out so I had to make sure I came back stronger.
“Ninety minutes against Hearts is just going to benefit me. I want to play every game for this club, put in good performances for the team and help them win football matches.
“That’s the aim and take it week by week and win games of football. It’s a massive game against Partick Thistle on Wednesday. We won’t underestimate them at all, we know how good a team they are.
“We treat every game the same even though this comes with the chance to get to a semi final. We go into it like we have every other one and hopefully get the result and give the fans a trip to Hampden.”
Barron has just under two years left on his contract at his boyhood club and Dons boss Jim Goodwin revealed last month that talks were ongoing over a new deal. Goodwin admitted he hoped the discussions wouldn’t drag on too long.
But Barron, who was linked with Celtic in the summer, says his future is not the priority - it’s cementing his place in the team in the here and now that’s foremost in his thoughts. Asked if he was close to agreeing a deal he said: “I have just been focussing on getting back fit from injury, getting minutes back in my legs.
“Getting my fitness and helping the team is my aim. It was good to get back out there against Hearts.
“It was a massive team performance and we dug deep to get the three points. That was quite a shift but getting the three points gets you through it.”
Barron’s top team return came as a second half sub in the 4-0 humbling against Dundee United a week earlier. It was a nightmare return for the youngster. But he reckons the reaction against Hearts shows this side has character while the performance of Luis Lopes - who scored the opener and set up Vicente Besuijen for the clincher - proves it also has quality.
Barron said: “The Dundee United game was disappointing. We all know that. We let the club down, the boys let the gaffer down and the fans down.
“It’s how you react to defeats, we came together as a team and made sure we went into the week in the right mentality.
“Duk’s been quality since he arrived. He maybe lacked a bit of fitness the first couple of weeks but coming off the bench and doing well, he really deserved his chance which he got today and he has gone and shown the fans what he can do. We all know how good a player he is.”
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