As he celebrates the anniversary of his arrival at Pittodrie Aberdeen defender Shay Logan’s year with the club has been a whirlwind adventure.
Logan made his debut in the League Cup semi-final win against St Johnstone last season before playing in the team which ended the 19-year trophy drought by beating Caley Thistle on penalties in the final.
A Scottish Cup semi-final, European football and a surge to the top of the Scottish Premiership have all since been added to his list of accomplishments in a Dons jersey, but the former Manchester City and Brentford right back’s success in Scotland has only whetted his appetite for more.
He said: “It was an intense start but the players welcomed me and the supporters took to me straight away.
“It was really special to be involved in the cup run last season and we want to do it again.
“That was my first experience of winning a trophy and that’s what I play football for.”
The League Cup has made regular appearances at functions, civil engagements and close to every school and bar in the city, such has been the feelgood factor surrounding the club in the last 12 months.
The club’s profile is at its highest in years and Logan wants to keep it that way by ensuring the cup stays in the Pittodrie board room.
He said: “The cup is still at Pittodrie and it has been passed around for people to get photos taken with it over the last year. That’s what it’s all about and we want more experiences like that.
“Hopefully we can put ourselves in a position to win it again.
“We have a great supporter base and we want to give them more moments to enjoy because they turn out in big numbers to back us. It’s a good time to be an Aberdeen supporter and we want to keep that going.”
The Dons head into tomorrow’s game in impressive form having had eight wins and two draws in their last 10 matches.
But it is a measure of how far the club has progressed this season that the eight-game winning run which was brought to an end by draws against Dundee and St Johnstone have been greeted with disappointment within the dressing room.
Logan knows, for all the progress made, there is still room for improvement and he is confident there will be no complacency against Dundee United at Hampden.
He said: “Going to Hampden for the final would be special, that’s when we’ll start talking about things like that. The momentum is with us but we’ve got to go into the game and do the basics right to get us over the line.
“Derek McInnes is not the sort of manager to let a team’s momentum slip and Tony Docherty is the same. They have a good knowledge of football and of players, that’s what we want. Nobody will get ahead of themselves and if the manager thought that he’d soon let us know.
“And on the other side, if he senses anyone is down he’ll pick them up.”
Tomorrow’s game will be a first trip to Hampden for Logan and it is a journey he is looking forward to with eager anticipation.
He said: “I played at Wembley before and that was great. It’s great to play at big stadiums. Hampden is not my national stadium, but it’s still a special place and come the day I will feel part of it as well.”
Standing between the Dons and a meeting with either Celtic or Rangers in March is a United side which has also progressed well this season.
The Tangerines won convincingly at Pittodrie on the opening day of the season before the Dons evened the score with victory at Tannadice.
Logan admits to paying little attention to Jackie McNamara’s side until now but all that has changed. He said: “I know they have good players and beat us on the first day of the season.
“I felt we were a bit tired that day and the scoreline didn’t reflect how we are as a team, but we showed what we can do when we played them at their ground – same again on Saturday.”