Ante Palaversa is determined to repay Aberdeen’s faith in him after committing his future to the Dons.
The Croatian midfielder endured two injury-blighted seasons prior to joining the Dons from Troyes on a one-year deal in the summer with the option for a two-year extension.
Aberdeen have moved quickly to extend the playmaker’s deal until 2027 and Palaversa insists he had no hesitation in committing his future to the club.
He said: “For me it’s amazing to get the deal done now as I’m really happy to be here.
“This is a club that gave me the chance again after the recent years when I didn’t get to play.
“It’s been a long time, really difficult for me, a really tough time.
“But I think if you believe, if you work hard then things come back to you, it doesn’t matter when.
“It’s been a while since I was not fit enough to play, to compete, so I’m really happy about myself.
“I feel so happy. It’s amazing to be here. Without the team, it would not be possible.
“It’s just amazing to be here, amazing to be part of the squad, so that’s why I wanted to stay and be in the manager’s plans.
“I like it, so it’s just up to me.”
Midfielder craves European football with the Dons
Palaversa’s ambition for himself and his club is quite clear – he wants European football and to bring silverware back to Pittodrie.
Having been with the squad which reached the Premier Sports Cup semi-final the disappointment of the 6-0 loss to Celtic has only added to the Croat’s determination to bring success to the club.
He said: “I want to make an impact for the club and myself and be part of a good Aberdeen team.
“We want to be fighting for a top three place and get European football next season.
“We would also like to win a cup as it was disappointing to go out to Celtic earlier in the season.
“That was a setback and we tried to play our best but goal by goal it’s hard to bounce back when you are three down at half time.”
Palaversa hoping for repeat performance at Rangers
The Hampden mauling was undoubtedly the low point of an erratic season from the Dons to date, but Jimmy Thelin’s side have beaten Rangers at Pittodrie and fought back from 2-0 down to draw with league champions Celtic at Celtic Park this season.
With the Dons set to return to Glasgow on Wednesday to face Rangers at Ibrox, Palaversa is confident he and his team-mates can shake-off their 11-game winless run and rise to the occasion once again.
He said: “We remember the really good performance when we beat Rangers at Aberdeen.
“My hope is that we can produce that sort of performance down in Glasgow against them.
“When you stick together, you know your plan and everyone is doing their job it can go pretty well.
“Of course the recent run has been surprising and disappointing but we are going to bounce back soon.
“We’ll go from the first minute. I don’t know what’s going to be after 10-15 minutes, but we’re going to be there for the first minute.
“We are right now focused on playing a good game and we’re going to try to win.”
‘We’re going to bounce back’
Palaversa is frustrated at seeing his side’s strong start to the season falter in the last two months but the midfielder is confident the Dons’ winless streak is nearing an end.
He said: “I don’t know what has gone wrong, it’s maybe just moments in the games.
“But it’s about how you bounce back and that’s what we’re going to do.
“On Sunday against Hearts we were back on doing some things we were doing in the past.
“There were also some parts where we should be better in, so in the future I think we’re going to improve that as well.”
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