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.

Nicky Devlin: Aberdeen need to bring Parkhead second half from start to knock Celtic out of Premier Sports Cup

'We obviously showed against Celtic we can score goals... We need to keep it a wee bit tighter at the back against them'.

Aberdeen's Nicky Devlin celebrates scoring to make it 1-0 against Rangers. Image: SNS.
Aberdeen's Nicky Devlin celebrates scoring to make it 1-0 against Rangers. Image: SNS.

Nicky Devlin thinks Aberdeen will need a 90 or even 120-minute performance to beat Celtic at Hampden and reach the Premier Sports Cup final – but is backing the Dons to improve on their recent Parkhead draw.

On Saturday, Jimmy Thelin’s Reds will put their unbeaten start to the campaign – currently 16 matches – on the line when they meet the Hoops for a place in the League Cup showpiece.

Aberdeen’s stunning start to the season under Swedish boss Thelin has only seen them drop points in one fixture – the comeback 2-2 Premiership draw, from 2-0 down at half-time, away at Brendan Rodgers’ champions two weekends ago.

As Scotland’s two form teams – level on points at the top-flight summit – switch their attention to cup action and a quick rematch, Devlin reckons the Dons will only go through to the final if they produce their best from the first whistle to the last.

At Celtic Park on October 20, aggressive Aberdeen were ruthlessly punished in the opening 45 minutes as their hosts netted through Reo Hatate and Kyogo, before roaring back after the interval through Ester Sokler and Graeme Shinnie, with a potential Duk winner then chalked off for handball.

Right-back Devlin said: “We obviously showed against Celtic we can score goals against them, and we have to bring that second half performance from the very start – because in the first half we weren’t great and probably let them get too much of a foothold in the game and they scored a couple of goals.

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin (left) and Nicky Devlin after the final whistle in the William Hill Premiership match at Celtic Park, Glasgow. Image: PA.

“We need to keep it a wee bit tighter at the back against them, but we know within the team we’ve got goals.”

The side who progress from Saturday’s semi will take on either Motherwell or Rangers, who play on Sunday.

Aberdeen came through a Wednesday night Pittodrie league thriller against the Gers, winning 2-1 to pull nine points clear of their third-placed rivals in the standings.

The Aberdeen players mob Shayden Morris after his winning goal against Rangers. Image: Darrell Benns/DC Thomson.

Despite another win, Devlin says “there’s still loads” boss Thelin wants his men “to improve on”.

The 31-year-old added: “I think in a lot of the games it’s been spells we’ve been good.
“On Wednesday, we were really good in the first half, and then in the second half, we weren’t so good.

“I think come Saturday, if want to go through, we will have to put a 90-minute performance in, or 120 minutes – whatever it may be – (together).

“I don’t think we can be as poor as we were in the first half at Parkhead again. We have to be better than that.”

‘It doesn’t matter if you break teams down in the first or 91st minute, he wants us to play a certain way and we keep trying all the time’

One thing which cannot be questioned is Aberdeen’s determination under manager Thelin, with substitute Shayden Morris’ 74th-minute winner against Rangers – which was set up by Devlin, who himself scored the opener – following up the side’s late winners against Hearts (3-2) and Dundee United (1-0).

Aberdeen’s Shayden Morris celebrates scoring to make it 2-1 against Rangers at Pittodrie. Image: SNS.

Devlin thinks this Aberdeen team have the strongest character of any side he has played in, saying: “Especially how many times we’ve scored late winners.

“It all comes from the manager – how he wants us to play.

“And it doesn’t really matter if you break teams down in the first minute or 91st minute, he wants us to play a certain way and we keep trying to play that way all the time for him, no matter who is on the pitch. Personnel change, but we want to play the same way.

“That what’s getting us goals – we want to get wide, we want to get crosses in and, on Wednesday, we got two crosses in and scored two goals.

“It’s exciting times to be honest, but we can still improve a lot.”

Best Pittodrie atmosphere – as Devlin says Shayden Morris deserved winning goal v Rangers

Devlin rated the Pittodrie atmosphere in midweek as the best he has experienced since signing for Aberdeen two summers ago, saying it “topped” the heartbreaking 3-2 Uefa Conference League group defeat to Greek side PAOK last term.

Pittodrie before kick-off between Aberdeen and Rangers. Image: SNS.

“From the first minute, and especially when we needed them in the second half, they (the fans) stuck with us,” Devlin said.

“We weren’t playing great, but they kept supporting us, kept bringing the noise and they were a big help in how we managed to get over the line.”

For the winning goal, Devlin poked the ball through Rangers keeper Jack Butland’s legs at the front post, with the ball then ricocheting off the far post and out to Morris to slam home.

With right winger Morris having also made an electric impact off the bench against Dundee United last Saturday, Devlin think his younger team-mate – who is “probably disappointed he’s not started maybe more games” – deserved the decisive strike as a “reward for home hard he’s worked recently, (and) how patient he’s had to be.”

Aberdeen’s Shayden Morris celebrates with Ante Palaversa and Nicky Devlin after scoring to make it 2-1 against Rangers. Image: SNS.

He added on the “brilliant” Morris, 22 – who has five assists and now two goals in only seven starts this term – “I’ve tried to stress to him we know as a team, as a squad, the management as well, how important he is to us.

“He has such a big impact on games for us.”

Devlin: I should have seven or eight goals

Nicky Devlin of Aberdeen to make it 1-0 against Rangers. Image: Shutterstock.

Devlin, with his volleyed finish to put Aberdeen 1-0 up in the opening period against Rangers, now has four goals of his own for the Reds this term, having started all 16 matches they have played.

On his attacking contribution for a side he has also helped record eight clean sheets, recent Scotland debutant Devlin said: “it should be seven or eight. I have missed chances as well.

“It’s something the coaching staff and manager have worked on with me, to make sure I’m in areas where I can score.

“Luckily, on Wednesday, it fell to me.”

Conversation