Aberdeen goalkeeper Joe Lewis breathed a mighty sigh of relief when Rangers appointed Pedro Caixinha as manager after fearing Derek McInnes was the Ibrox club’s wanted man.
McInnes was among the contenders to replace Mark Warburton, who departed in February, with former Rangers manager Walter Smith urging the Light Blues to turn to McInnes.
But the Ibrox directors instead gambled on Portuguese manager Caixinha, who was in charge of Qatari side Al-Gharafa.
With McInnes at the helm, the Dons are sailing towards sealing second spot in the Scottish Premiership and have opened up a 12-point gap on Rangers, who visit Pittodrie tomorrow.
Lewis, pictured below, said: “I didn’t watch a lot of Rangers last season so I wasn’t aware of how strong they were.
“They will probably be a little bit disappointed they haven’t done a bit better and they had the upheaval with the change of manager which doesn’t help anyone.
“When Rangers were looking for a manager I didn’t want to lose ours and we didn’t.
“I don’t know what went on, if it was just talk, but the fact is Derek McInnes is still our manager and we’ve kept on a good run.
“Stability helps at any football club and we’ve had that this season.
“We’ve got a good group of lads and when we have changed things the lads who have come in have done well.”
In an impressive debut season for the Dons, former Cardiff City and Peterborough United stopper Lewis has managed 20 shutouts in 44 appearances and has conceded only 32 goals.
Lewis reckons he is playing the best football of his career and heads into tomorrow’s match having kept five successive clean sheets.
He said: “We’ve kept five clean sheets in a row, but there haven’t been too many shots. I’ve had very little to do.
“Goalkeeping isn’t all about saves, I’ve had to keep my concentration, collect a few crosses and distribute the ball as well.
“It’s testament to the back four, but also the rest of the team and how hard we’re working. We’re not giving teams space to get their heads up and get the shots away so I hope that continues.
“I’m pleased with the run of clean sheets. We’re defending well as a team, limiting the opposition to very few shots and picking up three points which is the main thing at this stage of the season.
“I had a few clean sheets in the season we got promoted at Peterborough but to have 20 clean sheets in a season now must be the most I’ve had, and this is probably my best consecutive run of clean sheets as well.
“No goalkeeper is happy losing goals and all pride themselves on clean sheets, but at the moment three points is all we’re after and if we win all our remaining games 5-4 then I’ll be happy.”