Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Barry Robson says there are ‘no dead rubbers’ for Aberdeen in Europe

Heavy snow and freezing temperatures as low as minus 14C will not be a problem for Aberdeen in Helsinki says the Dons boss.

Manager Barry Robson at HJK Helsinki's Bolt Arena. Image; SNS
Manager Barry Robson at HJK Helsinki's Bolt Arena. Image; SNS

Fired-up boss Barry Robson insists ending Aberdeen’s Euro win drought for the club’s travelling fans is his main priority in Helsinki.

Aberdeen face HJK Helsinki in the Finnish capital on Thursday in Group G of the Europa Conference League.

The Dons’ hopes of qualifying from the group stages to the knock-out phase have been extinguished.

However Robson believes this fixture still means everything to the die-hard Dons fans who have travelled at great expense to Helsinki.

The Dons boss insists he has told his players how important winning in Helsinki is to the club and fans.

There is still £870,000 in Uefa prize money and club coefficient points up for grabs for the Reds in the remaining games against Helsinki and Eintractht Frankfurt.

However Robson will not be sidetracked by cash or coefficient matters – his sole focus is on securing Aberdeen’s first Euro win this campaign for the fans.

Helsinki has been battered by heavy snow and more snow is forecast for during the Group G clash.

The temperature at game time is set to be minus 6C but that will feel like minus 14C due to the wind chill factor at the Bolt Arena.

Robson insists the harsh weather will not affect his squad as they trained in sub zero temperatures at Cormack Park before flying to Finland.

Manager Barry Robson during an Aberdeen press conference at the Bolt Arena. Image: SNS

He said: “It is massive for us to get that first group win as we have 1,500 fans coming out to Helsinki.

“Those fans are hugely important to us.

“So we want to put on a good performance for them.

“It is really important.

“We spoke about getting that first win with the players.

“The frustration is that from the performances we have put in Europe I don’t think we are sitting on the points we deserve.”

Aberdeen boss Barry Robson at the Bolt Arena, Helsinki. Image: SNS

No Euro dead rubbers for Robson

Aberdeen cannot qualify for the knock-out stages of the Europa Conference League as they have just two points after four games.

Greek club PAOK and German giants Eintracht Frankfurt have both qualified.

When asked if he could potentially give some players a rest and prioritise the domestic campaign, Robson said: “Try telling 1,500 fan who are coming over it is a dead rubber.

“It isn’t.

“We are playing for Aberdeen Football Club in Europe against a very strong team.”

Manager Barry Robson during an Aberdeen training session at Cormack Park on the day they flew out to Helsinki. Image: SNS

Rewarding fans key, not prize money

There is still £470, 0000 (£435,000 for a group win) and four Uefa coefficient points to play for in the remaining two group games.

When asked if the prize money and coefficient would be in his mind, Robson said: “No, it is just about winning it for the fans.

“We want to perform well and put some points on the board.

“They have spent a lot of money to come to watch us in Finland – so that is the most important thing for us.

“All we are trying to be is our best as a club.

“To just play well in Europe and put in  good performance.

“We deserve to be on more points than we have got.”

Richard Jensen (L) during an Aberdeen training session at Cormack Park, on November 29, 2023,. Image: SNS

Learning valuable Euro lessons

Aberdeen are competing in the group stages of Europe for the first time since the Uefa Cup in 2007-08.

Robson rebuilt his squad in the summer transfer window with 13 new signings in a bid to balance Europe with domestic commitments.

Yet that first win in Europe still evades them.

Robson is confident his reconstructed squad are learning lessons in Europe.

Manager Barry Robson during an Aberdeen training session at Cormack Park, on November 29, 2023. Image: SNS

He said: “We had a big rebuild in the summer.

“Some players have played at this level and some have not.

“We have learned a lot from playing in European games.

“The more you play in Europe the better you get and that is what we have done.”

No problems with conditions

Robson trained the Dons squad at the club’s Cormack Park complex on Wednesday morning before travelling to Finland.

Helsinki is being gripped by a big freeze, but Robson says that will be no problem for the Dons.

He said: “If I’m going to be honest I did a match prep at Cormack Pak this morning.

“I think that would have been minus three or four with the wind coming in.

“I don’t think it will be anything different to what we are used to.”

Bojan Miovski during an Aberdeen training session at Cormack Park, on November 29, 2023. Image; SNS

The 10,000-capacity Bolt Arena has an artificial pitch and the snow that fell heavily on Tuesday was quickly cleared from the surface.

Robson said: “We have to play in artificial surfaces when we are in Scotland at Kilmarnock and Livingston.

“So we are used to it. It is nothing new to us.”

Helsinki inactive for three weeks

HJK Helsinki have not played for three weeks as the Finnish top flight ended in mid October.

They retained the league title on the final game of the season but have been inactive domestically ever since.

Their last game was a 1-0 home loss to Eintracht Frankfurt on November 9.

Jamie McGrath shoots at goal during the Europa Conference League match between Aberdeen and HJK Helsinki at Pittodrie Stadium on October 5. Image: Shutterstock.

Robson said: “That could work in Helsinki’s favour.

“They have a whole season behind them though so I am expecting a tough game.

“We are probably the opposite as we have played a lot of matches.

“Helsinki are a good team and you saw with the way they moved the ball abut at Pittodrie.

“They will also be more used to playing on the astro.”

 

Conversation