Dante Polvara believes the Aberdeen players must use the last five games of the season to prove to new manager Jimmy Thelin they have a future at Pittodrie.
Thelin is due to arrive at the Dons in June after being confirmed as the new Aberdeen manager last week.
Polvara is excited at the prospect of playing for the Swede and insists the final games of the campaign are a chance for him and his team-mates to impress the incoming manager.
The midfielder said: “There are a lot of players in the squad who are under contract so will be here next season, so we have to prove to the new manager we are worth keeping.
“It has been a disappointing season but as much as you can look at it with the managers and other things not going our way, but you still have to look at yourself first and foremost.
“We have to prove we deserve to be at this club and we’re good enough to play here.”
‘We’re all looking forward to working with him’
Polvara is relishing the chance at fresh start next season under his new manager and is pleased the speculation about the next manager has been put to rest.
He said: “We have been in a weird limbo for a few months now so it’s good to know what’s happening.
“The club needed clarity and that’s not just the first-team, it’s everything – the staff, the people who work here and the players too.
“This is a big club, we need to have a plan and a common goal so it’s good we’ll be getting that.
“Right now, we don’t know too much about the new manager because we have been focused on the games we have.
“So I am not too sure about his background and philosophy, but he’s not a British manager so it will be something different.
“A lot of other clubs have tried it with success, so everyone is optimistic about it.
“He’s obviously done well in Sweden so we’re all looking forward to working with him.”
Interim boss Peter Leven remains in charge until Thelin arrives and will continue as a first-team coach under the manager.
Polvara believes Leven has done a sterling job under difficult circumstances.
The American said: “Pete is the manager for the moment and we’re listening to him.
“I think he’s been great, he steadied the ship.
“He’s been with us all year so he understands what we’ve been through as a team, which I think is a good thing.”
Polvara targeting perfect finish
Saturday’s Scottish Cup semi-final defeat on penalties by Celtic at Hampden ended the Dons’ hopes of playing in Europe next season.
With no cup final to look forward to the focus at Pittodrie is now on ensuring the club is not dragged into the play-offs and Polvara is targeting a perfect finish in the five post-split matches.
He said: “It has been a tough season, there’s no denying that.
“But there’s plenty to look forward to, it’ll be a fresh start with the new manager next season and I think people are excited by it.
“Before that, though, we have five huge games because we’re not safe yet.
“The aim has to be to win five out of five and end the season on something of a high.
“We know what this club means to everyone and what it means to us as a group, we know how big a club it is.
“It hasn’t been good enough and if we’d performed like we did in the semi every week we’d have been fine.
“But we haven’t done that often enough.
“The last five games are massive, we want to finish top of the bottom six section.
“It won’t mean anything but for us as a group, to win all five games and have that strong end to the season would mean a lot.”
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