Young is keen to make his mark

Dons player hopes to convince McGhee he has future at club after stepping into breach

By Paul Third

Published:

Derek Young capped his return to the starting 11 with a man-of-the-match display to help Aberdeen inflict Rangers' first domestic defeat of the season, but the winger was more interested in catching his own manager's eye at Pittodrie.

Young, who stepped into the breach alongside captain Mark Kerr in central midfield, only played in the 1-0 win against the champions due to the suspension of Gary McDonald and Fraser Fyvie's absence due to injury, but having left the field to praise from manager Mark McGhee for his performance, he hopes he has now convinced his manager he does have a future at the club. He said: “It's been far too long and I've told the manager that. I don't know if I have anything to prove as I know what I can do and so do my team-mates.

“The manager came in and decided quite early that I wasn't in his plans, but I have stuck at it and hopefully my performance will go a long way to changing what the manager thinks about me.

“I went in to see him after being on the bench for so long and his words to me was basically that I had maybe been here too long, which I couldn't believe as I had been away from the club for four years. He did say if I was going to stay he was all right with that, but I wasn't going to let him get away with saying that as I have only been back two years.

“It was his decision at the time and I thought I would have been given the chance to prove myself first before anybody made a decision like that. It has been hard and there has been a few days when I have called him every name under the sun, but it is good to be back in and hopefully I can stay there."

Young excelled in his preferred role and will likely play there again this Saturday alongside McDonald following the sending-off of Kerr at the weekend. Having suffered in an unaccustomed right back role against Sigma Olomouc in McGhee's debut in July, Young has been on the outside looking in since, and he admits this season has been difficult as a result.

He said: “I've only played three games and I have played alongside guys who have 15 or 16 games under their belts already this season so it is tough.

“I played my first game for the manager at full back and I wasn't great. He asked me if I would play there and I said I would, but looking back it was not a great decision. Everybody knows I will play anywhere, but thankfully I got to play in central midfield alongside Mark Kerr and he helped me through the game. When you have been away from it, you need help from your team-mates and they were great."

Lee Miller's goal was enough to give McGhee his first victory against Rangers as a manager. Young played his part, but his team-mates ably supported in a committed display against Walter Smith's side. However, with Kerr becoming the fourth player to be red-carded in as many games for the club, Young knows there has to be an improvement in the discipline of the team.

He said: “I was on my hands and knees in the last half hour and we can't go through the season with this happening every game as it is going to come back to haunt us."