Finnish international defender Richard Jensen has warned Aberdeen must deliver their “best game” at Pittodrie to overcome HJK Helsinki.
The Dons host the reigning Finnish champions in a Europa Conference League Group G clash at Pittodrie on Thursday.
Summer signing Jensen came through the youth ranks at HJK and has remained friends with many of the club’s players.
He admitted there will be banter with his HJK friends in the build up to the group showdown.
However all friendships will be put aside when the crunch clash kicks-off.
Aberdeen are competing in the group stages in Europe for the first time since 2007 and go into the clash with HJK Helsinki on a high.
The Dons are on a three-game winning streak having defeated Rangers 3-1 at Ibrox at the weekend.
HJK are top of the Veikkausliiga table and are closing in on a fourth successive league title.
Having dominated Finnish football in recent years Jensen insists HJK are a team used to winning and warned they will “come at us”.
He said: “HJK are the biggest club in Finland and they have a good team.
“They are expected to win (the league title) every year.
“We need to bring our best in the game if we want to beat them.
“They’ll come at us and give us a hard time.
“It’s going to be difficult.”
Banter with HJK Helsinki friends
Aberdeen are searching for their first points in Group G having been edged out 2-1 by Eintracht Frankfurt in the opener in Germany.
Now Jensen is ready to go up against the club where he began his career.
Jensen was raised in Porvoo, a town which is 32 miles east of Helsinki, with a population of 50,000.
He emerged through HJK Helsinki’s youth academy before moving to FC Twente in the Netherlands in 2012 when he was 16.
Jensen has friends in the HJK squad, those he came through the youth academy with and others through playing together in the Finnish national squad.
HJK players currently in the Finnish squad are Miro Tenho, Kevin Kouassivi-Benassan, Pyry Soiri and Matti Peltola.
Strikers Santeri Hostikka, Lucas Lingman (on loan from Helsingborg) and Anthony Olusanya have also been in recent Finnish squads.
Jensen, 27, said: “I have a few friends at HJK and a few I know from playing in the national teams.
“There are some guys my age that I played with in the under-21s and now in the full national squad.
“I will talk to them before the game.
“There will be a bit of banter before the match on Thursday.
“I expect family and friends will come to the game when we play in Helsinki.”
‘When you hear about Aberdeen you think football’
Capped 10 times by Finland, defender Jensen played all 90 minutes of the 1-0 Euro 2024 group qualifier win away to Kazakhstan on September 7.
Jensen was signed on a three-year contract with Aberdeen this summer from Polish side Gornik Zabrze for an undisclosed fee, understood to be £400,000.
When Aberdeen made their interest in securing Jensen clear the centre-back insists his decision to sign was immediate.
He said: “The interest came up and then things happened very fast.
“I was very keen to take the opportunity.
“When you hear about Aberdeen you think football.
“It is a great big club with a good history.
“Aberdeen had their place in the European group stages and there were a lot of things that saw me jump at the chance.
“Mainly it was Aberdeen being such a great, historic club.
“I didn’t have to think about it for more than a second.
“The welcome has been very warm and I’m happy with my time here so far.”
Jensen’s early years at HJK Helsinki
Jensen is a former Finland U21 captain and made his full senior debut for Finland in a UEFA Nations League qualification game in Helsinki’s Olympic Stadium against Montenegro.
Now 11 years after leaving HJK he is out to derail his former club’s Conference League campaign.
Jensen said: “I was brought up in a town called Porvoo, which is about 20 minutes east of Helsinki.
“I left HJK at a very early age.
“I was 16 when we played in Europe in the academy of HJK before I left for Twente in Holland.
“We played in a tournament in Holland, where we had a great deal of success and got to the final against Borussia Monchengladbach.
“There were some really good teams in that tournament.
“An academy scout from Twente saw us and got in contact and that is how my journey started.”
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