Lewis Ferguson on his Aberdeen future and penalty 'scare' against Rangers

It doesn’t require the psychic influence of Uri Geller to move a ball off the penalty spot at Pittodrie.
Lewis Ferguson equalised for Aberdeen against Aberdeen at Pittodrie with this penalty kick despite the ball moving slightly off the spot before he struck it. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)Lewis Ferguson equalised for Aberdeen against Aberdeen at Pittodrie with this penalty kick despite the ball moving slightly off the spot before he struck it. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)
Lewis Ferguson equalised for Aberdeen against Aberdeen at Pittodrie with this penalty kick despite the ball moving slightly off the spot before he struck it. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

As evidenced on Tuesday night, the North Sea wind whistling in from the beach end of the stadium is more than capable of intervening at the critical moment of a 12 yard drama.

Lewis Ferguson, as he was impishly happy to point out to a group of seasoned Scottish football writers on Tuesday night, wasn’t even born when Israeli spoon-bender Geller claimed to have shifted the ball at Wembley in 1996 just before Gary McAllister’s spot-kick was saved by England goalkeeper David Seaman.

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Unlike McAllister, Aberdeen midfielder Ferguson was not adversely impacted by the movement of the ball as he confidently sent Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor the wrong way to earn a 1-1 draw for the Dons.

Lewis Ferguson's header struck the left arm of Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos to earn the penalty kick which secured a 1-1 draw for Aberdeen. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)Lewis Ferguson's header struck the left arm of Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos to earn the penalty kick which secured a 1-1 draw for Aberdeen. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)
Lewis Ferguson's header struck the left arm of Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos to earn the penalty kick which secured a 1-1 draw for Aberdeen. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

But the 22-year-old admits he was aware of the possibility of the kick having to be retaken, a course of action referee Kevin Clancy should have followed had he noticed the unusual incident.

“When I ran up and the ball blew towards me, I felt like it wasn’t on the spot when I hit it,” said Ferguson.

“I thought ‘if I miss, I might get it again but if I score then I will take it’. It put me off a wee bit but I just concentrated on getting good contact on the ball and put my foot through it. Thankfully it hit the net, although it caused a wee bit of a scare.

“I thought we should have had a penalty in the first half with the incident with Ryan Hedges and Allan McGregor. Throughout the game, I thought we were the better side.

“We knocked the ball about well. Rangers' shape was decent and although we were knocking it about well, they were making it hard to play through them.

“There weren’t a lot of gaps to play through. I thought we were well worthy of our draw at least. I actually thought we edged it.

“A performance like that will beat most teams in this league and consistency is something we need to get in our game.”

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Ferguson has firmly established himself as one of Scottish football’s most proficient and reliable penalty takers. He has now scored 10 out of 10 for Aberdeen, contributing to an overall tally of 30 goals in the 150 games he has now played for the club.

“I have not missed one yet and, touch wood, I won’t miss the next one,” he said. “I enjoy taking them and getting on the scoresheet.

“I didn’t know until a couple of days before the Rangers game that it was going to be my 150th appearance. It’s a good feeling and I think 30 goals is a decent return, which I’m quite pleased about. Long may that continue.”

Aberdeen fans will hope Ferguson is around at least until the end of this season as speculation continues over a possible move in the current transfer window with Italian side Cagliari the latest club credited with an interest in him.

“I’m an Aberdeen player just now and I will be focused on playing for Aberdeen for the foreseeable future unless something happens,” added Ferguson.

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