Leading Caley Thistle to Scottish Cup glory at Hampden has been the highlight of Graeme Shinnie’s career – but he would love to do it all again with his hometown team this weekend.
The 25-year-old captained Inverness to victory against Falkirk at Hampden in May 2015 in what was his last game for the Caley Jags before moving to the Dons.
Shinnie is relishing taking part in his first final with Aberdeen when they take on Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic at the national stadium on Sunday.
The Aberdonian said: “It would mean everything. I am a player who wants to win everything. I’d like to win everything every year, that’s what a player should want.
“I have won the Scottish Cup, so I would love to add the League Cup to my collection.
“It’s a game that means everything and one I am looking forward to.
“The Scottish Cup final was going well up until the point Carl Tremarco got sent off and then it was a bit nervy.
“At Inverness we always found a way to do it the hard way. There was no better feeling than when James Vincent turned the ball home to score the winner.
“It’s one of my greatest days in football winning that cup, it’s something I’ll always look back on.
“I had my daughter on the pitch, it’s something I’ll be able to tell her about when she’s older. It’s great for your family, great for the supporters and great for everyone involved.”
The Dons have been beaten on both occasions by Celtic this season.
A 4-1 defeat at Parkhead in August was followed by last month’s 1-0 loss at Pittodrie when a first-half strike from Tom Rogic proved decisive. But Shinnie feels confident it will be third time lucky for the Dons this weekend.
He added: “The games against Celtic have been frustrating. I felt we played pretty well down there but ended up losing 4-1.
“We deserved more out of the game than that.
“Up here we rode our luck at times, they had a few chances but we grew into the game again and piled on the pressure as much as we could at the end. We could have nicked something.
“We know there are gaps and weaknesses we can exploit, it’s all about doing it on the day.”