Aberdeen defender Alfie Dorrington craves statement win at Hearts

Alfie Dorrington wants to lay down a marker for the new season by getting Aberdeen off to a winning start to the new season at Hearts.

The Dons travel to Tynecastle for their Premiership opener on Monday looking for their first win in Gorgie since May 7, 2017.

Jambos new boss Derek McInnes was in the Aberdeen dugout the last time the Reds enjoyed victory at Tynecastle and will be looking to get off to a winning start with the Jambos on his league debut.

But Dorrington knows a win for the Scottish Cup holders in Edinburgh would be an early message of his club’s intent to challenge near the top of the table this season.

The central defender said: “It would be a statement win as I’ve heard it’s a hard place to go.

“Last season I played against them, and they were a pretty good team but hopefully we can make a statement by winning.

“It will be a real fight at the top because it was for third, fourth and fifth last season as well.

“When we play the likes of Hibs or Hearts away treat it the same as we would at home.

“I feel like the performances on the road weren’t bad but maybe the results and the way it was going went the other team’s way.

“You need a bit of luck in football in terms of chances or mistakes leading to a goal but we are trying to rectify all those things.

“But I don’t see that being a problem this season as the Aberdeen away support is always good.”

Dorrington craving consistency on Dons return

Dorrington has returned on a season-long loan from Spurs as a Scottish Cup winner after playing a key role in the final victory against Celtic at Hampden in May.

The cup win triumph came following an erratic second half of the season in the league where the Dons struggled for consistency, but Dorrington is confident there will be no repeat in the new campaign.

He said: “We are looking for more consistency right from the start as there was a lot of ups and downs when I arrived.

“Before I came the club had gone on a mad winning run at the start of the season then dropped off.

“Then we picked up and then dropped off again towards the end in terms of the league results anyway.

“That’s something we want to sort out in terms of what we do as we weren’t happy with fifth place.

“The manager has been big on habits and daily stuff that you have to do right and so we’re ready to go again.”

‘I’ve come back as a man’

Dorrington’s loan move to the Dons last season was the first of his career and the 20-year-old believes the experience has been vital in his development.

With the opportunity to play in Europe further adding to his experience this season the Englishman had no hesitation in returning to Scotland for another season.

He said: “Aberdeen are a big club in Scotland and with the European football this season that heightens my profile.

“That means new experiences with different opposition and different styles of play to come up against.

“It’s such a big competition to play in as Spurs showed by winning it last season so I can’t wait to be involved.

“I was told it was going to be physical before I came here so I was prepared for that.

“But I feel as though I’ve toughened up as I kind of came here as a boy then left and came back as a man.

“Different teams play different ways but most of them have big, solid strikers.

“If you are not beating them physically then you have to beat them by being sharper or by reading the game better.

“It’s about always being on it because one slip up and they’ll punish you and score.”

Dons defender looks ahead to Euro draw

Aberdeen’s added reward for winning the Scottish Cup in May was entry into the play-off round of the Europa League.

The draw is made on Monday at noon and having experienced some European games during his time at Tottenham last season Dorrington is excited at what lies ahead with Aberdeen.

He said: “There are some tough teams in there but it’s all about backing ourselves to get through.

“I actually fancy one of the big teams like Braga or maybe Ferencvaros as I was on the bench for Spurs there.

“That is a crazy atmosphere there and I have a few Greek friends so they’ll be buzzing if we get Panathinaikos.

“I was also on the bench for Rangers away and Galatasaray away so three really good atmospheres.

“My dad said the atmosphere at Ibrox was proper good, but it was completely different being on the bench for Tottenham and on the field with Aberdeen.

“It was my third day at this club and I understood the rivalry straight away.”

[Source: The Press and Journal]