Andy Considine has done it all in his long career at Aberdeen. But hearing the Champions League music ring out at Pittodrie remains on his bucket list.
It has been little more than a pipe dream for so many years but with two places on offer this season Celtic are within Aberdeen’s reach.
Aberdeen have 13 games left, three of them against the Hoops, as they bid to make up a five-point deficit and Considine is daring to dream.
He said: “That carrot is there and can you imagine listening to the Champions League music playing at Pittodrie?
“It would be something we’d all love to experience, but right now our main fight is with Hibs for the Europa League spot.
We haven’t taken advantage when Celtic have slipped up. There has been times when Hibs have slipped up as well that we haven’t taken advantage of. We’ve only got ourselves to blame.”
Derek McInnes’ side will make two trips to Celtic Park this month and Considine knows it is vital his side do not lose more ground in their upcoming matches, starting with tonight’s home match against Livingston (6pm).
He said: “The two games against Celtic we have coming up could be huge.
“It will show us where we are as a team.
“We want to get to those games, the double header, sitting in a good position and with a chance to potentially leapfrog them or get tight with them so it’s a massive month for us.
“There is every chance by the end of the month we will still be going toe-to-toe with Hibs but hopefully we can win games to bridge the gap and be chasing Celtic down.
“If that’s the case it would be two massive games, but we have to get maximum points in the run up to that.
“If we don’t do that it will be Celtic cruising to second place and us, Hibs and Livingston fighting for third and fourth.
“We don’t want to look back with regrets and we have said that as a squad.”
The fight to decide the European spots is intensifying with Celtic’s shock home defeat by St Mirren meaning both Aberdeen and Hibernian made up ground on Neil Lennon’s side and Considine is bracing himself for a race which will go to the final weeks of the campaign.
He said: “We didn’t see that result coming at the weekend but when you look back at it you see the massive missed opportunities.
“I can see that going down to the wire so we need to win games like this week, those are the ones we have won in the past.
“It’s been getting through games like this one against Livingston that has helped us to third spot in the past and we’ve looked back thinking what a huge three points it was.
“So this game is huge and hopefully we can get the result we need.
“We had some really good chance at the weekend and I felt if we had scored one we could have gone on to score more.
“That would have closed the gap with Celtic but we didn’t take it.
“So this game is massive if we want to get that third place and challenge for second.”
If the Dons are to keep up their challenge they must end Livingston’s 13-match unbeaten run tonight. David Martindale’s side held Aberdeen to a goalless draw at the weekend and Considine expects an equally tough night at Pittodrie.
He said: “I wouldn’t say it’s tough facing the same team twice. You know what’s coming. I wouldn’t say there are any surprises in what’s coming. I suppose being at home, the onus is more on us to go and play a bit more football and take the game to them.
“If we do get chances, then we need to take them because I felt there was very little in the game at the weekend. It was just about gaining territory at the right time, especially down there which is a very tough place to go.
“We’re at home this time and we need the three points.”