Boss Scott Anderson has urged Aberdeen’s youngsters to etch their names into history by beating Banks o’ Dee in the Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield final – and wants the Red Army to come out to help them.
Aberdeen have never claimed the trophy since the Shield was founded in 1990, despite being record 35-time winners of sister competition, the much-older Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup.
Anderson has watched his side beat Breedon Highland League trio Fraserburgh (5-3 on penalties after a 2-2 draw), Turriff United (1-5) and Buckie Thistle (5-3) to reach this season’s Shield showpiece.
And he revealed he has underlined the historical significance of clearing the final hurdle, current Highland League leaders Dee, to his emerging Reds players.
He said: “We hold these two (Aberdeenshire) tournaments in high regard for the young players, and it’s an opportunity for them to go and do what no other player at Aberdeen has done.
“That’s been spoken about – we definitely want to go into the game and win it.”
Aberdeen’s first-team take on German side Eintracht Frankfurt at Pittodrie in their last Europa Conference League group game on Thursday, before travelling to Hampden for the Viaplay Cup final against Rangers on Sunday.
Despite these commitments for Dons fans, Anderson hopes they will also turn up to roar his youngsters on against Dee at Balmoral Stadium in tonight’s showdown (8pm kick-off).
He said: “I’m really keen for our players to play in front of crowds.
“It’s a cup final and the opportunity is hopefully there to see what young players we’ve got coming through.
“Hopefully there is a crowd – it puts a little bit more pressure on the young players and I would like to think they’d be able to handle that.”
What will Aberdeen’s squad look like for Shield final?
Anderson was able to call upon several of Aberdeen’s first-team back-up men for the opening Shield win over Fraserburgh at Pittodrie.
But, in their subsequent ties, the Dons have reverted to a squad comprised mainly of development players.
Given the demands on Barry Robson’s side this week, Anderson does not expect senior players to feature in the Shield final.
It is unclear, though, whether youngsters on the fringes of the first-team, like Findlay Marshall, could be handed their chance to impress in the Euro dead-rubber against Frankfurt – something which could potentially affect their game-time in the young team’s silverware battle with Banks o’ Dee.
Though the aim on Wednesday is to win the Shield, Anderson thinks the under-17, U18 and U19 players deployed by Aberdeen in this season’s competition will reap the benefits of their experience.
This has included overcoming a “really good” Fraserburgh side “under the lights”, and then showing they could “match up against” Buckie.
The youngsters’ run has been “very pleasing” to the coach.
He said: “We can learn through these competitions and it’s a good challenge for them, and they need to deal with certain aspects – coming up against your Buckies and your Fraserburghs and obviously Banks o’ Dee in the final. They have to deal with physicality and the little bit of know-how these adults have got.”
Anderson added: “These competitions and these game allow the players to see that side of it, be able to do that side of it and stand up to it, but also play our game, because we have good technical players with lots of ability – but they have to do the ugly side as well.”
Dons need to ‘handle’ Dee’s ‘high-energy’ approach
Assessing the challenge final rivals Dee will present on the Balmoral’s big artificial surface tonight, Anderson said: “We’ve obviously had footage of them and I went across and seen them myself.
“They are sitting at the top of the Highland League as it stands and we know it will be a real challenge for us.
“We’ve mentioned the physical side, but they seem to be a high-energy team who like to get the ball forward.
“So we need to handle that, cope with that and make sure we bring our A-game as well.
“We like playing on big areas – where we play at Cormack Park for a lot of the U18s games is a big pitch as well – and we feel it will suit us.
“We back ourselves in terms of where we are physically and like to ask the question of whether teams can match us fitness-wise.”
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