RATHER like those bleary-eyed holidaymakers who have clinched a good deal by agreeing to jet out to their destination at some ungodly hour, Aberdeen will head for Kazakhstan in the twilight zone of Wednesday morning, satisfied their method of managing the time difference between the UK and the Central Asian country will brings its rewards. It is all part of the professionalism and preparation that have been the hallmark of Derek McInnes’s reign since he assumed control of the Dons two years ago.
Lying in wait for them when they reach this far-off land, once part of the Soviet Union, will be Kairat Almaty, Aberdeen’s third hurdle in the qualifying stages of the Europa League following trips to Macedonia and Croatia as the air miles continue to accrue.
Sufficient space has been made available on the team’s eight-hour chartered flight for the players to enjoy their slumber in what should be an interesting experiment on how to help athletes deal with the difficulty of crossing time zones and then be expected to produce a high level of performance.
There is also the not unimportant issue, too, of coping with the domestic campaign’s opening fixture against Dundee United at Tannadice three days later with the Reds’ manager learning from experience.
“The time difference is one of the biggest factors we have to think about,” he said. “It’s five hours ahead, which is fairly significant, so we have to manage that the right way. We can’t go on to their time, then get back quickly for Dundee United. So we’re travelling when we are travelling because we believe that will give us the best opportunity to manage it properly. We will stay on our own time, fly late on Tuesday night and sleep when we should be sleeping.
“We should get to the hotel at 2pm their time, get a sleep and then train at night. So anyone who can’t sleep on a plane – and I’m one of them – will be able to get some rest before we train.
“After that we’ll just nip away at bits and pieces of sleep in the build-up to the game. It’s something we really had to think about because we didn’t want to have two full days out there, then come back for Dundee United and try to switch back.
“I don’t know if anyone has done it like this before; there’s no perfect way of doing it, but as a staff we’ve discussed it. We took advice from the physio and the sports scientist and we all agree this is the best way to do it, although no way is going to be perfect.
“We just believe this is the best chance of getting there with enough rest and being able to get back on to UK time for the Sunday game at Tannadice. We need to make sure we take both games into account. We should get back in at 4am from Kazakhstan so the players will get a good rest on the Friday.”
McInnes accepts that, while he demands full concentration on the job in hand from his players, it is his task to consider what follows, hence his pre-occupation with opening the Ladbrokes Premiership programme with a victory.
“Everything is on the European game first of all,” he said, “but we want to get our league season off to a good start as well. We can’t have one eye on Dundee United next Thursday, but as a coaching staff we have to have one eye on that game in terms of our preparation. We want the freshest team possible for that match when it comes round. I didn’t pick the freshest team for that game last season and we have learned from that.”
Like Aberdeen, Kairat added to their squad in the brief summer break, notably by signing Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, captain of the Ukrainian national team with 135 caps since his international debut 15 years ago.
He may be 36, but in a career that has seen him star with clubs such as Shakhtar Donetsk, Zenit St Petersburg, whom he captained to Uefa Cup and Uefa Super Cup triumphs, and with Bayern Munich as Champions League winner, he will be a major force for Aberdeen’s opponents.
Jonny Hayes, the scorer of the Dons’ second goal in their 2-2 draw against Rijeka at Pittodrie on Thursday night, giving them a 5-2 aggregate win, is unburdened by such information, preferring, instead, to place faith in his manager’s strategy.
“I’ve no idea about this guy,” he said, “but I hear he’s a good player and I believe they’ve put in a lot of money into the club. However, we’re well prepared and really looking to going forward.”
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