Niall McGinn insists any semblance of a Glasgow fear factor for Aberdeen has long been banished.
The Dons recorded their third victory over Rangers in Glasgow of the season on Tuesday night, with a 2-0 win putting them into the last four of the Scottish Cup.
Their record on the road this season has been near-exemplary, with eight wins and a draw from their last nine on the road. That draw came against Celtic at Parkhead and with a trip to Hampden Park next month against the league champions, their form against the Old Firm could not be peaking at a better time.
McGinn said: “Even in the last few years, that fear factor hasn’t been there. We’ve finished above Rangers in the league and on the road this season, we’re unbeaten in eight games. To see out the game with a second goal was a bit of a cushion. They through everything at us but we were solid, from Stevie May through to Joe Lewis.
“Being at a big club like Aberdeen, you enjoy getting to semi-finals and finals. We want to go a step further – we’ve got another opportunity to get to a final and there’s no bigger task than beating Celtic. We need to get back to winning ways in our league form and look forward to Saturday.
“In my time here we’ve won a couple of times but coming off the back of a replay, it was an uphill task for us. We showed great maturity and composure to put on a performance like we did. We knew we’d have to take our chances – I’ve read the pass and took it well. But more importantly we’re through to the next round.”
Aberdeen’s younger players again came to the fore at Ibrox with three teenagers – Lewis Ferguson, Dean Campbell and Connor McLennan – all starting, with McLennan bagging the second goal.
The potential shown by those three in particular bodes well for McGinn, who is one of the senior faces in the Dons’ dressing room.
He added: “For the young lads like Dean, Connor – even Max Lowe and Dom Ball – for them to play in front of a packed house is a great learning curve for them. For us older guys to see that is great for Aberdeen in the future. Night’s like Tuesday they will always remember and take confidence from that.”