Consistency is key for Aberdeen, warns Cammy Smith

Cammy Smith spoke about “exciting times” at Aberdeen as the Pittodrie club began 2015 by going top of the Scottish Premiership.
Cammy Smith said it was a great feeling to score his first Pittodrie goal in the 2-0 win. Picture: SNSCammy Smith said it was a great feeling to score his first Pittodrie goal in the 2-0 win. Picture: SNS
Cammy Smith said it was a great feeling to score his first Pittodrie goal in the 2-0 win. Picture: SNS

The 19-year-old striker came off the bench to score the late clinching goal in the 2-0 home win over St Johnstone on Thursday which leapfrogged the Dons over Celtic by one point.

Last month Aberdeen revealed a restructuring deal will allow the club to move on without the burden of about £14 million of debt, while a new training facility is on the horizon, all of which has added to the feel-good factor in the city as Derek McInnes’s side prepare to play Motherwell tomorrow.

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“It is exciting times at the club,” Smith told RedTV. “On and off the pitch the club are doing brilliantly at the moment and long may it continue.

Cammy Smith said it was a great feeling to score his first Pittodrie goal in the 2-0 win. Picture: SNSCammy Smith said it was a great feeling to score his first Pittodrie goal in the 2-0 win. Picture: SNS
Cammy Smith said it was a great feeling to score his first Pittodrie goal in the 2-0 win. Picture: SNS

“We are top of the league, yes, but it is just one game at a time. We just need to keep winning and keep ticking them off the list. There probably will be set-backs along the way.

“But there are still a lot of games to play and if we can keep the consistency going, hopefully we will be there or thereabouts.”

The Aberdonian scored for the first time at Pittodrie with his first goal of the season on New Year’s Day.

Smith, however, admits being frustrated that most of his contribution to the cause has come as a substitute, albeit he can understand why his opportunities have been restricted.

“My first Pittodrie goal was a great feeling,” he said. “It has been frustrating, obviously, not managing to get in the team. It is hard to sit and watch every week but the team has been doing so well. We are on a great run, we are at the top of the table now so you can understand the manager being consistent with his selection.

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“I’ve been a part of quite a lot of the games, maybe not as long as I wanted to but I have played some part.

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“But I just need to keep working hard and when called upon, just do my best.”

The contrast at Fir Park could not be more stark, and Motherwell manager Ian Baraclough has told his players there can be no room for feeling sorry for themselves following their humiliation at Hamilton.

Motherwell suffered their heaviest defeat against their Lanarkshire rivals for exactly 80 years when they were pulled apart on New Year’s Day.

But Baraclough has warned they will have to pick themselves up off the floor in time for the visit of Aberdeen.

The recently-appointed manager admitted he had spotted some worrying characteristics in his players when up against it at a rain-soaked New Douglas Park. And he has demanded that they come out fighting tomorrow.

“In any game at any level when you get done five it’s hard to take, but we have to take it and move forward,” Baraclough said. “We have a game on Sunday so we can’t dwell on it too much.

“We certainly have to pick the bones out of it but we have to lift the players and rectify what we have done wrong on Sunday.

“You have to be strong mentally. You are going to take knocks and that has happened to the squad a few times this season and you have got to be mentally strong to be able to pick yourself up.

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“I won’t mope around the place, I won’t go feeling sorry for myself. I have to be able to pick the players up.”

Motherwell had more than 1,600 fans at the game and Baraclough knows they have to accept any criticism that comes their way. “We are going to be attacked in the media I’m sure and you have to be strong enough mentally to deal with that and pick yourself up,” he said.

“We have Aberdeen, who are going well in the league, coming to our place. Their tails will be up and they will be trying to get about us again. We have to be ready for that and go and play our game.”

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