Aberdeen goalkeeper Kelle Roos is ready to embrace the pressure of helping the Dons back into Europe.
In a week where the club’s greatest team has returned to the Granite City to commemorate the 40th anniversary of their European Cup Winners’ Cup final win against Real Madrid the class of 2023 is closing in on a return to Europe.
The Gothenburg Greats will be guests of honour at Pittodrie as they watch Barry Robson’s side take on Hibernian at Pittodrie.
Victory for the Dons will all but secure European football next season and with the possibility of European football until Christmas if they can finish third, Roos is excited about what could lie ahead.
He said: “I think it is very exciting for everyone involved with this football club. The fans are excited, the players are excited.
“If you look at the bigger picture you might feel some pressure but ultimately that is part and parcel of football.
“There is always pressure, whether you are playing for relegation, promotion, winning the league, European football, there is always some sort of pressure.
“As a footballer you need to be able to embrace that.
“Football is pressure, being a goalkeeper is probably even more so pressure.
“Personally, I wouldn’t want it any other way. I’m excited to get to Saturday and perform to our best.”
Points the priority before Roos will join Gothenburg celebrations
Nostalgia surrounds the game at Pittodrie, with fans selling out the stadium as they welcome former captain Willie Miller and his team-mates back for a day of celebration.
It has been impossible escaping the build-up to the game, which comes as the players and club received the freedom of the city from the Lord Provost.
Roos is focused on the game but he hopes three points can then lead to him and his team-mates enjoying the occasion afterwards.
He said: “For me, I’m going to be honest, it’s not as much about enjoying yet because you can’t really do that until after the game.
“As a group of players we are probably minimally distracted by it.
“It’s beautiful and I think it shows us how important it is to this football club if we get European football.
“It’s a nice incentive for us. At the same time, it might be boring, but we just need to be at the races on Saturday.”
‘I knew about Gothenburg from day one’
The Dons goalkeeper was not even born when John Hewitt scored the most famous goal in the club’s history in Gothenburg but he knows all about the legendary feat.
Roos said: “The first time I heard about it was the first day I spoke to Aberdeen.
“That sums up, and rightly so, how everyone is proud of that here.
“It shows the club has a lot of history, big history. It also carries a lot of beauty with it.
“I speak to Neil Simpson quite a bit. When I came in I liked to find out about (the success).
“He walks around the corridors every day so it’s brilliant to have him around.
“It’s sometimes a little bit surreal to feel that Bayern Munich and Real Madrid were beaten by Aberdeen.
“It is something to be very proud of and should be celebrated. Each player should be adored in every way so it’s great that it’s happening.”
Roos proud of Dons’ defensive resilience under Robson
A team which struggled to keep clean sheets under former manager Jim Goodwin has been transformed into a resolute and miserly outfit under new boss Barry Robson.
Roos has revelled in the new-found mean streak of the side and it is clear confidence is not in short supply at Pittodrie following their resurgence under Robson.
The Dons goalkeeper said: “We have shown we are hard to beat at times.
“That’s important because you know how games can go from 20 minute spells under pressure to 20 minute spells of domination.
“It’s important you can see these times out because I think anyone who has followed all these games knows these games weren’t easy at all.
“So it gives us a lot of confidence to show we don’t give goals away easily.
“Other teams now know we are not a rollover.”
When asked if the mindset had changed under Robson, Roos said: “That’s exactly right.
“It’s the boring answer but we take it week to week, football can change very quickly.
“We just need to make sure we prepare as best as we can for the next game coming.
“There’s a lot going on this weekend which is beautiful, but we have to make sure it’s a good weekend for everyone.”
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