Alfie Bavidge has his say on potential Aberdeen U-turn following Stephen Robinson appointment

Alfie Bavidge doesn’t expect Stephen Robinson’s arrival as Aberdeen manager to change the Dons’ plans to let him go this summer.

The 19-year-old forward, who has scored 20 goals on loan at League One pacesetters Inverness this season, revealed last month that he’d been told by his parent club his contract would not be renewed this summer.

On Thursday, Caley Jags head coach Scott Kellacher confirmed he wants the Dons academy product to sign for them as they bid to return to the Championship as League One winners come May.

One way or another, Bavidge, who has repeatedly spoken about his focus being only with the Highlanders this term, seems to have settled for his future being away from Pittodrie.

Right now, his immediate attention is on helping ICT land three more points against eighth-placed Cove Rangers on Saturday to remain at least two points in front of main title challengers Stenhousemuir. 

‘Purely focused’ on going for medals

When asked about whether Robinson’s appointment as Jimmy Thelin’s successorchanges the situation for him, Bavidge said: “I expect things will still be the same.

“I haven’t thought too much about it. My full focus is here, and it has been since I joined the club 18 months ago.

“I haven’t heard that anything has changed.”

And he underlined that adding to his Inverness tally is foremost in his mind as ICT hunt down a League One title ahead of next month’s Challenge Cup final against Raith Rovers.

He said: “You obviously want to do well for yourself, but at the same time these goals mean so much to me because it’s getting us closer to something as a collective.

“I want to go on and be at the top of the league coming to the end of the season, and if I can score even one or two more goals, it would be brilliant to get us closer to the finish line.

“Right now, we’ve got so much going on with the league – and even the Challenge Cup – that I’m purely focused on what we’re doing here, and our performances as a team.

“We’re just trying to get three points every single weekend.”

Bavidge on ever-improving Cove

This Saturday, Inverness face a Cove side at the Sarens PSG Stadium that holds a two-point lead over ninth-placed Hamilton in the battle to avoid that relegation play-off spot.

Paul Hartley’s team scored an impressive 2-1 win against promotion contenders Peterhead last week, thanks to a clincher from ex-Dons star Chris Maguire.

Bavidge was the scorer of Caley Thistle’s second goal in a hard-fought 3-1 home victory against Montrose last week and he feels Cove can test them, just as basement side Kelty Hearts did recently in a 0-0 draw.

He added: “It will be a really tough game. I think it will be similar to the Kelty game – they’re fighting down at the bottom of the table.

“We know how that is, you go into every game desperate for three points, so we’ll have to be right up for it but with the quality we’ve got in the dressing room we know we can put on a good performance.”

Learning from not playing weekly

Bavidge is delighted to have reached the 20-mark from just 21 starts for Caley Thistle this term, with his favourite being his equaliser in the recent 1-1 draw with Stenny in such an important game.

Despite being used as a substitute in 17 of his 38 games, Bavidge is relaxed about Kellacher regularly changing his line-ups.

He said: “The manager has spoken to us about it – sometimes we won’t have done anything wrong, but he’ll switch it up to keep things fresh.

“That’s just something you have to take in professional football, and it’s a skill to still perform when you’re in and out and maybe not playing consistently.

“It can be tough if you haven’t played for a few weeks, but what makes a good player a good player is that mentality to keep pushing every week in training.

“If you’re performing really well in training then you will give yourself the best possible chance to get yourself back in the team.”

[Source: Press and Journal]