Ciaron Brown spent yesterday behind the wheel as he headed back to Cardiff, but a part of Livingston will stay with the defender.

The 23-year-old has been recalled from his Livingston loan deal by new Cardiff manager Mick McCarthy with Brown keen to motor on in his career.

Grateful for the opportunity he got from Livingston, Brown has admitted that it was a tough call knowing that he will now miss out on the Betfred League Cup final and the chance to claim a bit of silverware.

“The Cup final is hard to give up despite not playing in many of the games,” he said. “I was suspended for the semi-final and we only found out a couple of days before it that I was suspended. I was gutted because I felt I’d done well enough in the Celtic game to start.  

“I was there watching the game and probably more nervous than the boys on the pitch for the last 10 minutes. I’ll be bloody nervous watching the final but the boys can do it if they go with the right mindset.  

“It’s an achievement even to get there in the first place with the Old Firm in the competition. We’ve shown we can compete with every team in the league and we proved that against Aberdeen.  

“I don’t know what the rules are but if we win I want a medal in the post! But it’s just an achievement to have been part of a time that got to the final.  

“When you are here you wholeheartedly want to do well for Livingston and your team-mates but the main aim is always to get a call back to Cardiff.  

“But it’s always hard to leave the boys, They’re a good group and make you so welcome. I’ve made friends I’ll talk to for a long time so it’s hard to play a game and then say ‘see you later’."

Such is the vocal coaching that comes over the course of a 90 minutes from David Martindale that the Livingston manager’s words from Saturday’s 0-0 draw would still have been ringing in Brown’s ears all the way back to Wales. 

“Some people might think Davie shouts a lot but he just sets demands on you,” he said. 

“I got it worse because I’m a full back - that’s why I try to play centre half! I’m mainly a centre half but I’ll do a job wherever he asks. I know he’s screaming on the side but he’s not screaming at you, it’s just that he wants to win.  

“When we started the unbeaten run we got into a huddle and said ‘we need to start pushing on and set demands’ and we’ve done that.  

“I’ll take away a lot from Livingston - a bit of peace and quiet from Davie! Seriously, the experience as a whole. And just having fun with the boys.  

“I’ve made friends for life and I’ll keep in touch with Davie. I’ll let you know in a week how Mick McCarthy compares. It would be a good competition! 

“But it’s always difficult to leave when the club, players and staff have been so good to me but I want to get back to Cardiff and impress the new manager and try and get into that team.  

“I felt I’ve done well here so I feel the time is now to go back there and get into that Cardiff team. I was in the dark for a bit but the new manager was straight to the point and said he wanted to bring me back and see me.”

Aberdeen’s need for a striker during the goalless draw was evident. Derek McInnes has agreed a loan deal for Scotland under-21 internationalist Fraser Hornby to compensate for the loss of Sam Cosgrove to Birmingham.

Aberdeen’s Ross McCrorie, however, has maintained that the onus is on the team as a whole to contribute with goals.  

“The onus has to be on the team,” he said. 

“We need to start all chipping in with goals. We are creating chances but, at the end of the day, we have got to finish them. If we start doing that then we will start to get results.  

“We have a good platform to build on with the clean sheets we are keeping.”