Dons return the ‘last throw of the dice’ for Russell Anderson

RUSSELL Anderson is ready to tear up his new contract with Aberdeen and quit football if his latest comeback from serious injury ends in failure.

The defender, 33, has signed an 18-month deal with the Dons four-and-a-half injury-blighted years after leaving Pittodrie in a £1 million transfer to Sunderland.

However, the man who made 300 appearances for the club first time round is still weeks away from fitness as he recovers from a hamstring injury that saw Derby County cancel his contract by mutual consent in December.

He admits he has doubted his powers of recovery in the past but is determined to give it one last chance to play regularly again. If it doesn’t work out he is ready to walk away without a pay off. Anderson said: “There have been occasions where I did think the injuries were happening a bit too often so this is probably the last throw of the dice.

“I appreciate the position Aberdeen are in bringing me back and I am not just going to sit here picking up my wages.

“If that is the case then I will tear my contract up. But there is a huge part of me that want to play football again as I have hardly played for the last five years and should be fresh as a daisy.

“I am one hundred per cent confident that I am in as good a place as I could be and that the physios here at Aberdeen will get me fit. I don’t think that Aberdeen would give me a contract if they didn’t think that would happen but they don’t have money to pay wages to a player who is always injured.”

Anderson has been made club captain although fellow defender Andrew Considine will skipper the side on the park.

Meanwhile, Aberdeen manager Craig Brown has confirmed his interest in Falkirk striker Farid El Alagui and Borussia Moenchengladbach’s Matthew Leckie. But highly-rated teenager Jack Grimmer will sign for Fulham this week leaving the Dons with only a development fee for consolation.