THE rush to embrace the collective in team sport can often lead to some strange standpoints. Managers insisting “it isn’t about them” despite their very livelihoods being on the line with every result. Strikers who claim they don’t mind whether they score or not in a victory. And goalkeepers underlining how insignificant it is whether they keep clean sheets or not as long as the team prevails, even though their only job is to try to prevent the opposition scoring. It is an admirable yet curious way to appraise each individual role within the bigger picture.

Joe Lewis initially started off down that same path as he looked ahead to tomorrow’s Betfred Cup Final between his team Aberdeen and Celtic – “if we win 6-5, then I will still be happy” – but further scrutiny revealed a goalkeeper determined to play his part in setting what would be an impressive record and one that would guarantee Lewis’

position in Pittodrie folklore.

Aberdeen’s route to the final has seen them play three ties against three Premiership sides in three cities and prevail each time without the concession of a solitary goal. If beating St Mirren 4-0 at home was fairly humdrum, then holding Hibernian to a goalless draw on their own ground before progressing on penalties was another achievement all together.

Few had expected them to get the better of Rangers at Hampden in the semi-final, but again Lewis and his defence held firm. Lewis Ferguson’s header would prove enough to clinch victory and set up tomorrow’s encounter with Celtic, again at the National Stadium. The goalkeeper will savour a win – and a first cup winner’s medal – regardless of how it is achieved, but if it could be done with another clean sheet that would make it extra special.

“It would be great to win the cup without losing a goal because goalkeepers pride themselves on clean sheets,” admitted the Englishman. “If we win 1-0 that would be great, 3-0 would be better right enough.

“Clean sheets sometimes don’t mean great performances, but it is something that people judge goalkeepers on, rightly or wrongly. It would be a nice record to have, going through the competition without losing a goal and it is something that would be talked about for years to come. But, however the win comes, I will take it. We have had to do it the hard way to get to the final and we have to take confidence from that. They maybe haven’t been the prettiest of games at times, but it is about winning in cup games and we have done that. If we do that on Sunday then we will have won the cup.”

It could take a penalty shoot-out once again for Aberdeen to come out on top, just as it did when they won this trophy in 2014. Lewis admits he is ready for that outcome.

“We practised penalties this week but you have to be decisive as a goalkeeper,” he explained. “Much like taking the penalty, you have to pick the way you are going and stick to it. You just hope your gut instinct is right.

“I saved one at Hibernian and we got through, so that gives myself, and the boys who scored them, confidence.

“I don’t think a penalty shootout is a lottery because you need the bottle to stand up and take them. It is about who holds their nerve. If the goalkeeper guesses the way you are going and saves it, then you can say you are unlucky. I haven’t been involved in too many and Easter Road is the only one I have faced in senior football. I had a few when I was younger, but I have a decent penalty record in my career overall which is nice.”

Aberdeen go into this match as second favourites but buoyed by their win at Celtic Park at the end of last season.

“Celtic are playing well right now but we have to focus on ourselves,” said Lewis. “We have beaten them before and believe we can do it again. We have areas in the team where we know we can hurt them and win the game. We have to make sure we play to our strengths and exploit their weaknesses.”

Pittodrie is a place where nostalgia adorns every wall, a reminder to the current crop of players of the standards to which they must aspire. Lewis, at 31, has enjoyed a decent career but having something tangible to show for years of endeavour is something that every player craves. Having played in the two final defeats to Celtic in his first season at the club, he is hoping it will be third time lucky.

“Losing against Celtic two years ago in those finals was a massive disappointment,” he admitted. “It doesn’t matter who you lose to, it is always a blow.

“I have huge hunger to win a trophy for this club. A lot of great teams have played for Aberdeen, you walk down the corridor here in the stadium and you see the pictures of cup wins hanging up. I want to be part of that and go down in history as a player who helped Aberdeen win trophies.

“My runners-up medals are in a box at home. You don’t tend to put your second prize ones up. But I have got a space for a winner’s medal and hopefully that happens on Sunday. The boys and I will be doing all we can to win that cup.”