Aberdeen Women head coach Scott Booth knows it will take a major upset for the Dons to progress to the Scottish Cup final this weekend.
The Dons, who will be playing at Hampden for the first time in Sunday’s semi-final, are against a Rangers side who will rightly start the encounter as heavy favourites.
The two league meetings between the sides ended in 11-0 and 10-0 victories for treble-chasing Rangers, highlighting the size of task at hand for the Dons.
But Booth hopes this weekend’s semi-final is an important indicator of the steps made by the Reds this season.
He said: “I joined the club to be able to help them progress and I think this season we’ve been able to do that to a large degree.
“This game at Hampden is a bit of a reward for the hard work the players have put in but it also shows the intent of the club to be in the final stages of the competitions we play in.
“It’s great for this one to be at Hampden and I’ll be proud to lead the players out.
“There’s obviously a lot of work still to be done. We’re definitely not there yet and we have a lot of hard work to continue.
“You’re playing against a fully professional team and that’s where we want to be.
“We’re not there. There is a big space between the teams that are still fundamentally part-time and the teams that are fully pro.
“You could see that this season in the league campaign. There’s a disparity between the bottom half of the table and the top half.
“And that comes down to players being 100% full-time against fundamentally part-time players.
“We want to be in the top half of the table. We want to be a club that challenges with the other teams in the top half. And this is, I think, maybe a first for that moment for us.
“Does it come a little bit early? Well, we’ll have to wait and see.”
Full-time is the long-term aim
Booth arrived at Aberdeen Women in October following the departure only two games into the season of Colin Bell, who had previously guided FFC Frankfurt to Women’s Champions League glory and taken charge of South Korea Women.
After finishing in the bottom half of the SWPL, the Dons are fighting it out in the second phase relegation group to avoid being one of the three teams who will be demoted in preparation for a smaller 10-team top flight next term.
The Dons sit in eighth-spot with a six-point cushion over 10th-place Montrose with five league games to go.
The priority this season is to ensure the club remains in the SWPL following a season of transition.
Former Aberdeen and Scotland striker Booth joined the Dons on a four-year contract and says the long-term plan remains to create a Dons team capable of competing against the top teams in Scotland.
He said: “I want the players by year four and maybe even earlier to be fully professional because that’s the only way that we can genuinely compete.
“There is no way we can compete on a regular basis and be up challenging in the top half of the table without making that step to full-time football.
“To get there, there’s a number of challenges, most of all financially.
“But I’ve seen it done, I’ve been part of it and I understand how to get there.
“But we definitely need to make sure that the club buy into it completely, that the players are ready for it, that the staffing is in place.
“The structure, be it pitches and the environment, has to be there as well. There’s a number of key factors in order to get to fully professional football.
“But I came here with those intentions and that’s what I’m looking to achieve.
“A big part of me joining the club was to be part of a project like that. I would love to see Aberdeen Women up at the top of the league and challenging regularly and winning things. I mean, that’s what it’s about.”
Cup-tied duo miss out on Hampden
The Dons will be without defender Jess Broadrick and midfielder Ellie May Cowie who are both cup tied for Sunday’s semi-final.
Booth admits it will take an enormous effort from his team if they are to win Sunday’s semi-final but believes his players will be stronger for the experience whatever happens at Hampden.
He added: “I think we have to be realistic as a club and, as a manager, I’m realistic about the expectations.
“However it’s a cup semi-final and I know for sure the players will give 100% and more if they can.
“I want them to enjoy it, first and foremost. I want them to savour it. I want them to experience it.
“And I want the younger players in the squad to use it as part of their development.
“But it’s a one-off game and in football, we know that anything can happen.”
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