The 31-year-old, who returned to Pittodrie on loan last week, made a habit of getting to the national stadium in his first spell with the Dons and Inverness CT. One of his most memorable came in his final season before heading south to join Derby County when Aberdeen defeated their rivals, then managed by Steven Gerrard, 1-0 thanks to a Lewis Ferguson header.

“They are games I loved when I was here last time,” he said. “It is one I am looking forward to again. Coming back and having one of those games again so soon is good. It is one we are looking forward to. The one that stands out in my head was the one against Rangers where Lewis Ferguson scored late on. I have witnessed some amazing atmospheres at the national stadium and it is where people want to be. Winning these games is massive for the players and the supporters to have a cup final to look forward to. We are going into the Rangers game which is exciting and the squad won’t need any encouragement from it. “If you can’t get up for this sort of game then you are struggling. Everybody knows what is at stake. We will do all we can to get through this game.”

While Shinnie tasted Scottish Cup success with Inverness, he was unable to do so in the red of Aberdeen despite the frequency they got to the semi-final or final under Derek McInnes. “It is very frustrating,” he admitted. “During that time Brendan Rodgers was at Celtic and what they achieved was crazy.“It was frustrating but we were beaten by a team that was very, very good. When that is the case you can accept it a little easier. There is always going to be that frustration because that Aberdeen team was very, very good but on the flip side of that we came up against very good teams as well. There was frustration there but it also showed what a good team we were and what we were capable of.”

Aberdeen ace Graeme Shinnie aims for Rangers repeat as he returns to Hampden Park for 9th time

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