SHOULD Aberdeen progress over two legs against Maribor, their failure to overcome the final hurdle in their efforts to reach the group stage of the Europa League in their two previous attempts may be the elephant in the Pittodrie changing room.
READ MORE: Graeme Shinnie: I hope Maribor have made the mistake of underestimating Aberdeen
Derek McInnes's team face the Slovenian outfit – who have beaten Hibs, Rangers and Celtic in Europe in recent years – at Pittodrie tonight in the first leg of their third qualifying round tie, but midfielder Graeme Shinnie has insisted that Aberdeen will not crash out at the penultimate stage before the groups.
Progression into the more serious stage would be a welcome boost to the club’s coffers – £2m for group qualification plus £300,000 for each group win – in these austere times and while that may not be uppermost in the minds of Graeme Shinnie and his colleagues, featuring against the bigger names of the tournament is an incentive.
READ MORE: Graeme Shinnie: I hope Maribor have made the mistake of underestimating Aberdeen
By 7.45pm tonight the research and the homework will have been completed, but Shinnie’s resolve to do what the Dons have failed to achieve in the previous two seasons is intact.
“They have had some good results in Scotland,” he said. “So they will come across here and fancy their chances.
“It is no problem to us. We hope they come over here thinking they will roll over us because we know that is not going to be the case.
“I am not sure how they feel coming over here but I know the confidence is high in our dressing room and we will be looking to do the business.”
READ MORE: Graeme Shinnie: I hope Maribor have made the mistake of underestimating Aberdeen
Shinnie, who can operate equally well in midfield or in defence, accepts the enormity of the task before Aberdeen, but after he and his team-mates saw off FC Fola Esch and Ventspils in the previous rounds, he is not unnerved by it.
“We know how they are,” he said. “The coaching staff have all done their research on them and we know they have a good team with a pedigree but we have been up against tough teams before and won. We know it is a tie we can win.
“We will know how they are going to play and what they will do. It is up to us to act on that and to try and look for their flaws.
“I didn’t know much about Ventspils or Fola [Esch], our opponents in the earlier rounds, but I do know a fair bit about Maribor and the calibre of team they are.
“We know we will need to be on top of our game. The manager speaks to us and gives us information but I just try to concentrate on my own game after that.
“I want to do the best I can but I know I will have all the information I need on them ahead of the game because the manager will have it there for us.”
Shinnie insisted he would not feel uncomfortable with a goalless draw tonight as he recalled Maribor’s 0-0 result at home to Levski Sofia in the last round before they went on to win by a solitary goal in the Bulgarian capital.
Keeping out the visitors’ goals will be paramount if Aberdeen are to experience the new territory of the group phase.
“We got to this stage last season and I felt in that tie we were good enough to get through,” he said.
“The hunger and fire in the belly is there for the boys to get through this round. It is then a shoot-out after that. The whole focus, though, is on the Maribor game.
“It is a game we should all enjoy but the only way you can do this is by getting a positive result.”
Shinnie made light of the recent controversy surrounding Maribor when, earlier this month, defender Erik Janza spat at Celtic’s Leigh Griffiths during the teams’ 0-0 friendly in Slovenia.
Brendan Rodgers described the incident as “disgraceful” but Shinnie appeared unfazed by the ugly incident.
“It is part and parcel of European football,” he said. “You come up against different cultures but we need to focus on our game and not get dragged into any sort of trouble.”
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