Midfielder Anthony O’Connor faces a step into the unknown as he prepares to make his competitive debut and first appearance in European football tonight.
The 23-year-old Irishman has had a whirlwind introduction to Scottish football. He signed for the Dons on Saturday, played as a trialist on Sunday at Brechin and international clearance came through on Tuesday to enable him to join the squad for tonight’s match against Fola Esch of Luxembourg.
It’s all happening very quickly for the former Burton Albion player, who can also play in defence, but he is relishing the challenge of becoming a first team regular at Pittodrie and enjoying his introduction to European club football. O’Connor said: “I know I’ve got a challenge on my hands to be in the team week in and week out. There are good players here and everyone is challenging for a shirt. Hopefully I can do really well for the club and nail down a spot.
“It was a big attraction to come here with the European football, but hopefully we can go a step further this year and get to the group stages.
“We can’t just settle for the third qualifying round, no-one should be playing football to settle for that. This is a massive club and we should be challenging with some of the bigger clubs in Europe as well.
“Getting so close the last couple of years, the ambition has definitely got to be to go a step further. The players really want it and it would be a great thing for the club to push on.”
The second tier European club competition has its critics, with Premier League clubs in particular fielding fringe players in the tournament in recent years.
Staying on the gravy train in the top flight has become more important but O’Connor is excited at the prospect of testing himself against continental opposition.
He said: “Any footballer should always strive to be the best he can be. If we can be part of the Europa League group matches then that would be brilliant.
“Wet need to treat every game the same. We’re going to do our best in the league as always and hopefully we can play a big part in Europe as well. For people to say it’s a blessing in disguise to get knocked out of Europe in the qualifying rounds, I don’t agree with that.
“We should be aiming to play as many games as we possibly can.
“The Europa League is a massive competition, it’s got some huge clubs in it – Liverpool got to the final last year – and it should be treated with respect.
“We can’t take any team lightly, even though it’s the first qualifying round, we’ve got to treat it like any other game and get a good result.”
A former Republic of Ireland international at under-17, 19 and 21 level, breaking into the senior team is a long-term goal for O’Connor.
He has watched fellow youth international team-mates make the step up into Martin O’Neill’s side and the Cork man would love to emulate their success.
O’Connor hopes performing for Aberdeen will increase his profile, but the priority is to establish himself at his new club.
And the former Blackburn Rovers youth player is confident Dons manager Derek McInnes, who has been a long-time admirer, can help him achieve his goal.
He said: “Growing up, everyone’s ambition is to play for their national side. That was another draw for me coming here as I don’t think the Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill looks down on the Scottish league. He’s proved it by putting Jonny Hayes in the squad before.
“This move is a chance for me to do well and hopefully catch the eye of the national team manager, but I’m going to concentrate on doing well for the club. I always want to get better and this club is the next step for me to improve. I can tell the manager is going to make me a better player already after knowing him for just a couple of days.
“The way I’ve seen him in training, I know he’s going to make me a better player.”
