Aberdeen manager Barry Robson has urged his squad to have “no regrets” by giving everything at Hampden in the bid to become history-makers.
The Dons will battle to win a first trophy since 2014 when facing Rangers in the Viaplay Cup final at Hampden on Sunday.
Robson has issued a rousing pre-final call to arms, urging his payers to dig deep so they “come off the pitch knowing you couldn’t have done any more”.
Boss Robson knows what cup glory means to the supporters, the club and the Granite City. He was part of the Dons team who lifted the League Cup at Parkhead in 2014- the last silverware success achieved by the Dons.
Now he aims to deliver the same trophy as Aberdeen manager to bring joy to the club’s supporters.
In a pre-final boost, Robson is confident leading scorer Bojan Miovski will be fit to face Rangers at the national stadium.
Goal hero Miovski was ruled out of the 2-0 Europa Conference League Group G win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday with a hamstring issue.
Robson said: “You have to come off the pitch knowing you couldn’t have done any more.
“I’ve said to the players the games they’ll remember are the big ones – the cup finals, playing in Europe.
“Those are the days and nights you look back on when you finish up.
“All you can do is give your all in the game, and when you do that you can always sleep at night.
“These boys will – I have no doubt about that.
“As a player I made wrong decisions on the ball and sometimes you don’t play well, but you always have to give your all.
“I don’t ask players to beat five men and stick it in the top corner.
“Just give me your all – and that’s what they do every week.
“It’s been a challenging year, having so many games, and it has been different.
“But this is where we want to be: playing in cup finals and playing against top teams.”
A game-plan to ‘hurt’ Rangers
Robson is on the brink of becoming only the third manager in 30 years to guide Aberdeen to trophy glory.
Roy Aitken led the Dons to the League Cup in 1995 (2-0 final defeat of Dundee) and Derek McInnes won the same trophy in 2014.
Robson accepts silverware in the trophy cabinet is ultimately the yardstick of how managers are judged.
And he aims to devise a game-plan to “hurt” Rangers.
He said: “Is silverware the benchmark you have to hold yourself to?
“Yes, definitely.
“I also think a big thing for Aberdeen is Europe and getting into group stages of competitions.
“But we all know how important it is here as an Aberdeen manager to lift silverware.
“It has been too long since we last did it.
“There has been a few clubs who have not lifted trophies.
“What we have done is put ourselves in a position to do it.
“It won’t be easy – but if we bring our A-game all over the pitch, we’ll have a chance.
“We need to put a plan in place to stop Rangers and try to hurt them, so we’ll be working on that. ”
‘We respect Rangers but we don’t fear them’
Robson and his team will be backed by a huge travelling Aberdeen support at Hampden.
Almost a decade ago, Robson had a key role in landing the Dons’ last trophy.
He played all 120 minutes of the League Cup final against Inverness Caley Thistle, which ended in a 0-0 stalemate after extra-time.
Robson took on the responsibility of taking the first spot-kick in the penalty shoot-out, and held his nerve to score.
Aberdeen would go on to win the cup 4-2 on penalties.
On the significance of a cup win on Sunday, he said: “The most important thing for me is to see people happy – the players and their families.
“The people who work hard here in the background and the fans.
“What gives me the pleasure is seeing the people here who work so hard getting rewards for it.
“Seeing everyone else happy is what makes me happy.
“Am I nervous before these kind of games?
“I’ll sleep fine. I’m okay with that.
“I’ll get a good sleep, because I know I’ll give everything, my staff will give everything and the players will as well.
“Just go out there, give your best and try to win.
“In big games, we have shown we can defend well, but are also capable of going after teams, too.
“We respect Rangers, but we don’t fear them.
“We have played well against them this season so will take confidence from that.
“My players should be confident because they have played really well against some top teams.
“The good thing for us going into the cup final is we’ve played a lot of big, big games away from home this season.
“We’ve been to big stadiums against big teams, so that experience helps.
“When you play in big grounds with big atmospheres you learn to handle it. ”
Optimism Miovski will be fit for final
Robson is optimistic star striker Miovski will be available for the final.
Miovksi, who has scored 12 goals this season, was ruled out of the victory against Eintracht Frankfurt with a hamstring issue.
Robson said: “We will see how Bojan is again on Saturday morning, but I’m optimistic he’ll be fine.
“We still have a training session to go before the game, and he’s been in the gym as well as out on the training pitch.
“So we’re optimistic he will be available. It’s not something I’m worried about.”
Robson delivering tickets on Friday… then aiming to deliver a trophy on Sunday
Robson revealed he has been inundated with requests from friends and family for cup final tickets.
He spent Friday night delivering those briefs.
And, on Sunday, hopes to deliver a trophy.
He said: “I’ve had plenty of people after tickets off me.
“I’m spending Friday night dropping them off and headed over to my best mate’s to give him his ones.
“I’ll deliver his for him, we’ll train on Saturday, then head down to Glasgow on the bus.”
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