Jim Goodwin insists Aberdeen must start making days out at Hampden the norm by taking another step on Wednesday night towards ending an eight-year wait for a major trophy.
The visit of Partick Thistle is an opportunity to book a last four spot at the national stadium in the Premier Sports Cup which brought the club their last success in 2014 with a final win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle. It’s that lack of achievement for the Reds in recent years which have starved the fans from enjoying glory trips to Glasgow which is driving Goodwin’s ambition to make Mount Florida a regular destination.
The Aberdeen boss said: “A club like Aberdeen with the resources available, with the history, the depth of the supporters and everything else which goes with it, we should be aiming for semi-finals as the minimum. When you get to that stage of the competition then anything can happen.
“I’ve always done relatively well during my short period as a manager in terms of going far in these competitions. I took St Mirren into the semi-final of this competition and the Scottish Cup and I want to do the same with Aberdeen.
“I want to take Aberdeen, the supporters, the club and this new group of players, where a lot of them haven’t experienced anything like that, I want to give them that experience as well.
“We are all desperate to get to Hampden and to get into that semi-final and to hopefully put ourselves into a situation where we can go and win some silverware because it’s been too long since that last happened here.
“Clubs like Aberdeen and Hearts and Hibs and Dundee United, they are pretty big teams in terms of the history of the Scottish game and there is a generation of supporters of those clubs – and Celtic and Rangers too - who have been used to seeing their team go far in domestic Cup competitions. We have to make sure that happens consistently. It is extremely difficult and challenging because there are a helluva lot of teams in the competition.”
Goodwin knows Championship table toppers Partick will pose a real threat to their hopes of progressing to a semi-final slot and he’s adamant by hook or by crook the end game is all about getting into the hat for a trip to Hampden.
“We have to find a way to win tonight. Whether that means grinding it out or not, we have to make sure we are in the hat for the last four. Hopefully we can win it in some style and go and play some free-flowing football but I wouldn’t care how we get there as long as our name is in the hat. That is all that matters.
“It’s the chance to get to a semi-final at Hampden which would be a brilliant day out for our group and for the fans as well. The biggest incentive of all is the opportunity to get a day out at Hampden for a semi-final.
“It’s a game where no doubt people will expect us to win because we are the Premiership team but certainly haven’t underestimated Partick Thistle. Partick are doing very well in their own league, they are sitting at the top of the Championship and are coming up to Aberdeen with absolutely nothing to lose and nothing to fear.
“I’ve been there myself when I was the manager of Alloa, you would go to play one of the big teams and there was absolutely no pressure whatsoever. It is almost a free hit but I know Ian McCall well enough as a manager, I’ve managed against him on numerous occasions and he always sets his teams up to be offensive minded. They gave us a scare when I was manager of St Mirren in this cup so I would expect more of the same from him.”
Aberdeen defender Liam Scales is adamant nobody at Pittodrie will be taking anything for granted against one of the in-form sides in the country.
Because we’re the Premiership club and they’re the Championship we’re considered favourites but they’re on a great run, we’ve done our study on them, we’ve been watching clips. They’re going to have a right go because they’ve nothing to lose, coming to an away tie. A trip to Hampden would be great for them and that’s going to be their motivation too. We just can’t under-estimate them and we won’t. We know how well they’re doing and they could easily be competing in the Premiership next season. We need to keep playing the way we have been at home, not drop any levels.”
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