By all accounts, they are queuing up along Union Street to try to get into the Aberdeen team for next weekend’s Scottish Cup semi-final tussle with Hibernian.
“Everyone wants to play at Hampden,” said Ryan Christie, after barging his way up a few places with a cracking goal against St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park on Saturday which set the visitors on their way to a victory which guaranteed European football at Pittodrie next season.
There’s still plenty to play for, of course. Second place in the Ladbrokes Premiership is very much theirs for the taking while the possibility of a return trip to Mount Florida for a showpiece occasion in May remains as mouthwatering a prospect as a freshly baked Aberdeen rowie.
Christie’s Hampden recollections are all very positive. "I've played at Hampden twice in my career and won twice,” said the 22-year-old, who was part of the Inverness Caledonian Thistle team who beat Celtic 3-2 in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup at the national stadium in 2015 and then went on to lift the silverware with victory over Falkirk.
It will be the buoyant Hibs standing in Aberdeen’s way when the newly crowned Scottish Championship winners, and current cup holders, go toe-to-toe with their top flight opponents in an intriguing last four contest.
Christie, who is on loan from Celtic, has not been a regular starter in a fairly settled Aberdeen first XI but he certainly staked his claim for a jersey with a neatly conceived goal on Saturday during a first half which was totally dominated by Derek McInnes’ men.
"It was good to get a start and to get a goal,” he said. “When you get your chance you want to impress. We have been on such a good run it's hard to go to the gaffer with any complaints (about not starting). The boys were doing so well. It was about being patient and trying to make an impact when I got a chance. I was happy to do that.
“I hope I have (done enough to get a starting place). It's a brilliant game that we are all looking forward to. Hibs are a very good team and everyone would agree they don't belong in the Championship.
“But it would be amazing to get to another Scottish Cup final. Lifting the Scottish Cup with Inverness is by far the biggest highlight of my career so far.”
Aberdeen haven’t lifted Scottish Cup since 1990 – they have been runners-up three times since then – and Christie would be eager to help the Dons bridge that gap. If they do manage to get past Hibs, and Christie’s parent club Celtic edge out Rangers in the other semi-final, then the various agreements of the loan deal may come into play. Christie just wants to do what he can to make sure Aberdeen get to the final.
“We will wait and see how the other semi-final pans out but we have Hibs and we are desperate to get hold of the Scottish Cup,” he added. “Everyone has been asking me (about Celtic v Aberdeen in the final) but it's pointless speaking about it before we face Hibs. I'm aware it's been a long wait for Aberdeen winning the Scottish Cup.”
Christie’s neat opener against St Johnstone was followed by an equally tidy finish from Tam Scobbie which, unfortunately, was at the wrong end as the St Johnstone defender cushioned a cross into his own net. The Saints rallied after the resumption through a penalty from the recalled Danny Swanson but Aberdeen remained as sturdy as a clump of granite and preserved their advantage.
“It's one of the areas you talk about - the 'corridor of uncertainty' - between the defence and the goalkeeper,” said Scobbie, who tried to intercept a menacing cross from Johnny Hayes. "It was a great ball in and I've had to try to get something on it but unfortunately it came off my foot and it's gone in the net.”
St Johnstone remain in fourth spot, a position which will be good enough for a place in the Europa League qualifiers as long as Hibernian don’t retain the Scottish Cup.
"There's a big incentive for the club to finish fourth,” added Scobbie. “Hopefully we can take care of business at our end. If you had said we would have a four points advantage (over Hearts in fifth) going into the split we would have taken that before a ball was kicked. For us to make top six in such a strong league has been another great achievement for this club.”
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