Anthony Stewart explains his Aberdeen captaincy style and why one Rangers player is better than other

Anthony Stewart leads his team into battle against Rangers on Sunday.

The central defender faced Colak in October when the Croatian opened the scoring in a 4-1 Rangers win at Ibrox but by the time the teams met again in December, it was Morelos leading the line for the Ibrox side who scored twice late on to win a dramatic encounter at Pittodrie. The sides will cross swords again on Sunday in the semi-final of the Viaplay Cup, with Colak’s involvement a doubt after he sustained a calf injury in last weekend’s win over Dundee United. His potential absence would undoubtedly be good news for Stewart, who rates Colak highly.

He said: “For me they’re two completely different strikers. I do rate one better than the other. I would say Colak is a better striker than Morelos in my opinion, based on his all-round game. I’ve played against both of them and I can give my opinion on them. I’ll watch both of their clips and I’ll know what sort of game to put up against them.”

Stewart hopes to utilise his big-game experience when he leads Aberdeen out at Hampden on Sunday. The 30 year-old scored when Wycombe Wanderers defeated Oxford United in the 2020 League One play-off final at Wembley before losing the same match to Sunderland last summer. “I’ve played a few big games in the past and hopefully I can use that in this game,” he added. “I played one final in the 2019-20 season when we got promoted to the Championship and just before coming here we played Sunderland in the play-off final in front of 75,000 at Wembley.

“From the outside it seems like a lot of fans but when you’re playing in the game, you’re focussed on the pitch and you don’t let the surroundings take control of you. It can make you nervous before games but ultimately it’s about what you do on the pitch. On Sunday we can’t let the occasion override us, we’ve got to stay focussed and execute the plan. I’ve spoken about the tricky times we’ve had here but every club goes through it. As long as we learn and stay as a team during periods like this, that’s when you see true characters. It’s a big day for the club, the fans, our families and us as players. We’re looking forward to it massively.”

Stewart was a surprise choice as Aberdeen captain so soon after arriving at the club and he revealed he is someone who prefers a quiet motivational word rather than screaming and bawling. “I came in from Wycombe where I’d been captain in spells but not consistently. So for the gaffer to give me the role as captain was a huge honour. It came very soon as I’d only been here for two weeks when he gave me that opportunity. I did ask him what he wanted from me as a captain and I was happy to go ahead with it. I’m all about individual connections. I’ll try to work my way around the boys throughout the week and build relationships in the team. I’m not really a barker but I don’t feel like a captain has to be a barker. You can lead through example and mentality. Barking in a stadium like Hampden you wouldn’t be heard anyway!”

Anthony Stewart was promoting Viaplay’s exclusive live coverage of Rangers vs Aberdeen on Sunday at 3pm. Viaplay is available to stream from viaplay.com or via your TV provider on Sky, Virgin TV and Amazon Prime as an add-on subscription.