Nicky Devlin is looking forward to his first taste of European group football at Pittodrie tomorrow night, because it’s precisely nights like the one against HJK Helsinki that drew him to Pittodrie in the first place.

“Playing in these European competitions was definitely one of the big attractions of coming here. Knowing we had group stage football was exciting, but we’re not here to just enjoy the experience and to make up the numbers, we want to make an impact on the group and to do that, we need to win tomorrow night. The fans demand that too.

“They have been fantastic all season, they’ve come to the games in big numbers, home and away, to Germany, to England in pre-season. They’re going to be a big factor. I’ve seen it a couple of times already, if we give them something to cheer, Pittodrie will be rocking tomorrow.

“It’s a massive game. We want to qualify from the group and we’re under no illusions that to do that, you have to pick up points at home. That starts on Thursday. We know how hard that is, they’re flying high at the top of their league, but we’ve prepared well.

“On paper, playing in Frankfurt was one of the most difficult games we’re going to have, but we felt unlucky that we came home with nothing. We know that if we can match those levels and perform to that kind of standard, then especially at home, we’ll be looking to win games. We understand how difficult that’s going to be tomorrow, but we’re looking forward to it.”

That Eintracht Frankfurt game looks to have been a pivotal point in this early phase of the season, Nicky pointing out that it was a performance that was coming for the Dons.

“From day one this season, I don’t think we were as far away from a good run of results as people maybe thought. We needed that one performance to kick us on and we’ve managed to get that. It’s not a coincidence that we got it in Frankfurt and then won three games in a row. We’re looking to build on that, it’s only a start, we know there’s a lot more to do. Confidence is high through the squad just now, but we know we need to be as good as we were at Ibrox again tomorrow night.”

Part of the major reshaping of the Dons squad when he joined in the summer, Nicky has been impressed by the togetherness shown by such a new group.

“We needed a big squad with all the games there are this season and the manager has stressed that everybody will be involved at different stages. What’s been great is the way the boys who aren’t maybe playing so much at the minute have reacted so well, and how they behave day to day at the club. They’ve been different class and that helps create the atmosphere that you need, that we’re all going in the same direction, and we’ll need that from now until next May.”