Paul Third: Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie showing he still has much to offer

A new, or rather old, positional switch has shown Graeme Shinnie still has so much to offer Aberdeen.

The Dons captain will celebrate his 34th birthday in four months’ time but even though his role as the midfield enforcer appear to be evolving, there is little doubting he remains a crucial cog in Jimmy Thelin’s red machine.

His performance levels at the club are up there with anyone at Pittodrie and it’s not hard to see why.

Shinnie is Aberdeen’s disruptor in chief, a combative, aggressive, totally committed member of the side.

His outstanding start to the season alongside Sivert Heltne Nilsen emphasised that emphatically.

But Shinnie is at an age now where game management needs to be utilised. Father Time stops for no-one after all.

Positional change is paying off for Shinnie

Ante Palaversa’s integration into the team has been a gradual process but with the Croatian now up to speed he has established himself in the Dons engine room.

There are promising signs of a partnership developing with the mercurial creator that is Leighton Clarkson too.

How much of this has happened by circumstance rather than design is open to debate but the idea of neither Shinnie or Nilsen being in central midfield in November would have been deemed unthinkable.

But that’s where we are now.

Nilsen is absent altogether due to an eye injury while Shinnie has reverted to the left back position he played in when he first joined the Dons from Caley Thistle.

Back then Shinnie was viewed as the man who would finally displace Andy Considine from the left back slot at Pittodrie.

It’s a measure of Considine’s consistency that Shinnie was soon redeployed in central midfield.

But since being redeployed as a defender in three of the last four matches, Shinnie is proving to be just as effective and influential on proceedings down the flank.

He may not be blessed with pace to burn but Shinnie’s tigerish tackling, positional awareness, and quality on the ball have all been on display in a defensive role.

His willingness to push forward and support the attack also remains on display as his goal in the 4-1 win against Queen’s Park in the Scottish Cup quarter-final shows.

Time will tell whether the positional switch will be permanent but the 33-year-old’s versatility will have given his manager food for thought as he enters into the elder statesman phase of his career.

Where will Dons skipper feature against Rangers?

Sunday’s final pre-split game of the Scottish Premiership season against Rangers will be telling in terms of where the Aberdeen captain is deployed.

Will he be tasked with shackling Rangers’ main attacking threat Vaclav Cerny? Or will Thelin opt to use those combative qualities back in the central midfield?

There is little more for pride at stake for a Rangers side which travels to Pittodrie in the middle of a Europa League quarter-final double header against Athletic Bilbao.

But for the Dons, their final game will be a crucial one against the Light Blues as they aim to keep the pressure on rivals Hibernian in the race to finish best of the rest in the division.

The stakes are high for Aberdeen with six league games remaining but it’s clear Shinnie will lead by example in some capacity.