Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie reckons goalkeeper Joe Lewis proved why he is one of the best in Scottish football with an outstanding display against Hearts at Murrayfield.
The Englishman produced a man-of-the-match performance to earn the Dons a point in Edinburgh and keep them level on points with Celtic at the top of the table.
Lewis kept 21 clean sheets for the Dons last season in an impressive first year at Pittodrie and has already racked up four shutouts in 10 appearances this term.
Shinnie believes the Dons are fortunate to have the former Cardiff City and Peterborough United player at Pittodrie.
He said: “Is Joe the best in Scotland? He is definitely up there.
“When I first came to the club we had Danny Ward, who was brilliant and it was disappointing when he left.
“Joe has been different class since he first arrived.
“He conducts himself brilliantly on and off the pitch, he is a great lad and is one of the best in the country.
“The way he has been playing means he may attract interest from teams but that is what you want as it means a player is doing well.
“The way the supporters have taken to him shows the impact he has made.
“He pulled off some great saves against Hearts to keep us in the game.
“The clean sheet was the positive we will take from the match.”
Shinnie enjoyed the experience of taking part in the first Scottish Premiership match to be held at Murrayfield but was disappointed with the way his side faded after a bright start.
He said: “We are never happy when we drop points. It was a tale of two halves.
“We played well in the first half, especially in the first 30 minutes, but we didn’t get going in the second half and Hearts were the better team.
“We didn’t play as well as we wanted but we will take the point and move on to next week.
“Playing at Murrayfield was certainly a different experience.
“The grass behind the goal made the pitch seem huge. It was a good experience to play in front of a big crowd and it was a good 0-0 if you can get such a thing.”