Captain Graeme Shinnie spoke to the media on Friday lunchtime ahead of Aberdeen’s Scottish Gas Scottish Cup Quarter-final tie with Queen’s Park at Pittodrie.

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Graeme started the press conference by giving his thoughts on potentially playing his 600th career game tomorrow:

“I am getting old! It’s an achievement I never thought I would’ve reached when I was a young boy growing up here in Aberdeen. To reach that many games is very humbling and I am very proud. Hopefully we can top it off with a win.

“There is a lot of highlights in there. Some big games I have played in and some big games at this club, in Europe, semi-finals and finals, making my debuts, some bad games in there as well which you have to learn from. My full Scotland debut was one of the hardest games I’ve had to face and on the flipside my Derby debut is one of the better ones, from not having a chance there to getting a chance and having to take it. Very up and down at times but a lot of proud moments throughout.

“Winning silverware with Aberdeen is something I have never shied away from, it’s something I have been desperate to do. I know how tough it is to do it and I think I’ve given myself enough opportunities. It’s tough when you face the teams we have faced. It’s tough to win them but again it’s something I am desperate to do and again we have a chance tomorrow to get through to the next round and that is very important.

“I am very appreciative the way we are talking right now and still having the platform to make more appearances. Back when I was 18, just coming through and just starting is when I went through the troubles with my Crohn’s. At that stage of where I was at, if you were to tell me I would be sitting here right now after 600 games I would’ve probably laughed in the hospital bed.

“I am very fortunate to be able to sit here now, having to deal with all of that stuff throughout my career I feel like I have been able to handle it well through diet and the way I have lived my life. To have come through that and be sitting here 600 games on is motivation for a lot of people who are struggling with Cron’s. I have spoken to a lot of people after coming out and it gives them hope in life, not just in football but in life in general that you can go on and achieve a lot of things. I am very proud.

“We played Queen’s Park already this season and scored late on. We know how good they are, they have got a great manager who has won the cup double with St Johnstone and knows how to navigate his way through cup games and how to be a good cup team. We are well aware of how good Queen’s Park are and the troubles they can cause us. We have been focused all week on our game plan. It’s all about Saturday and putting it into play and getting through.

“We have to treat it as another game and not look at it as a team from a different league or anything else. They are a team who is very good, they are a team who can cause us problems if we allow them but we also know playing at home at Pittodrie, using the crowd and playing to our ability we’re confident in what we can do as well. It’s the cup, we know anything can happen but we want to control the game and control what happens. That is what we’re focused on, what we can do to try and win the game. It’s a cup game, it’s do or die really, you don’t get second chances like you do in the league. The team is well aware of that as well.

“Wherever the manager needs me to play and if I can help the team in anyway, I don’t mind. It’s sort of roles reversed, I grew up as a centre mid, I changed to a left back to come through at Inverness and maybe now on the flip side going back to left back. If I need to play there and help the team I can. If I am needed in the middle I can play there as well. The team is the most important and that is what I put first.”