Leighton Clarkson wants to leave Aberdeen with a farewell gift of European football before he returns to Liverpool.
The loanee midfielder has been a big player as Barry Robson’s side returned to third place in the Premiership at the weekend. It capped some turnaround for the Dons, who at one point had been trailing Hearts by more than 10 points in the fight to be best of the rest.
Yes the Dons themselves had been in the driving seat until the end of December but the turnaround since Robson replaced Jim Goodwin has been truly remarkable. He has now led them to five wins on the bounce and, as it stands, it would take a brave individual to back against them from finishing in third spot. Clarkson knows how Aberdeen’s history is built on European success and how important it is to get the club back into that arena.
The fact is that third place could guarantee Europa League football and potentially European football until Christmas, if Rangers or Celtic win the Scottish Cup.
Clarkson, when asked about Europe, admitted: “It would mean a lot. The fans have welcomed us since the day we got here. I know they are all footballing people and it hasn’t been that great over the last couple of seasons.
“To give them something back, I really want to do that for them. It is something we’ve embraced and are really happy with the way it is going. There are still seven cup finals for us. Our only focus is Ross County on Friday, which we know will be a really tough game.
“It could be a special end to the season but we are just looking at Ross County and making sure we do the business there and then we can look at the game after then.”
It is not the first time there has been chatter of third place at Aberdeen. They were third going into the World Cup break before they collapsed under Goodwin. Clarkson insisted that even at their lowest point he still felt they could get back there.
Clarkson boldly insisted: “Yes, to be honest with you. We were down as a team. We can’t put our finger on why it was but that can happen in football. Barry has come in with new ideas and we have started quite well. Things seems to be clicking. We are getting the wins which is the most important thing at this stage. It has got us where we are just now.”
Aberdeen buckled under the strain earlier but it looks unlikely there will be a repeat under Robson. They look defensively solid and even when they are not playing well they grind out results. On top of that, they have the quality at the top end which has been there for all to see.
Duk scored within a minute, latching on to a pass from Bojan Miovski to beat Sam Walker. He then got the second when Clarkson found Miovski and his miss-hit shot fell to his strike partner who netted again to take his tally to four in five and 17 so far for the season. Clarkson insisted the work rate of their front players can’t be overlooked either.
He said: “He and Bojan put in the hard yards and you can see by the end of the game they are both knackered. They are getting the opportunities and Duk is putting them away.
“I rate him really highly. He is a really unique player and at times I don’t know what he is going to do and the fans don’t know what he is going to do either.
“Somehow he keeps hold of the ball and he is a pleasure to play with. He works hard in training and does the hard yards defensively. I am glad it has all come good to him.”
Duk is stealing the headlines with his goals but the likes of Mattie Pollock, Ross McCrorie and Angus MacDonald can’t go unnoticed either.
The two central-defenders have really stiffened Aberdeen and they have kept four clean sheets out of the last five. Yes, they did ride their luck at times but with the hard graft they are putting in they have earned it. Even when they get through, Kelle Roos is behind them to mop up.
Clarkson added: “There is a saying in football that if you keep them out at one end then you always have a chance of winning the game. Mattie, Angus and Scales have defended the box really well. Kelle has pulled off an unbelievable save just before half-time that keeps us in it. We know if we keep clean sheets then we have talented players who can score goals.”
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