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Brendan Rodgers had 5 words for Aberdeen keeper after Celtic clash and they told him all he needed to hear
Walking off the pitch to praise from Brendan Rodgers gave Ross Doohan an idea of how well the Aberdeen keeper had done on his first league start of the season.
The 26-year-old put on an inspired display against his former club Celtic at Pittodrie during the week before he was finally beaten by Reo Hatate. The keeper, who will start at home to St Johnstone today, has had to be patient but has been plunged into the Dons’ firing line since Dimitar Mitov injured his hamstring during a 1-1 draw against Hearts at Tynecastle.
Doohan said: “Brendan Rodgers came up and said, ‘Well done’ and then, ‘Best of luck’. I was happy with how it went. The result on Tuesday result was a bit disappointing but I got a good comment from Brendan and their goalie coach Stevie Woods so I just need to look forward to the game on Saturday.”
Doohan’s night was almost over before it got started as he was left floored after being caught by Kyogo Furuhashi. He was able to resume after some intense treatment. He added: “As soon as it happened I thought, ‘Just take a minute, compose myself’ and then we went through all the protocols with the doc and the medical staff.
“Everything was all clear but you need to put your body in to try and get the ball. Thankfully it was all right and we just move on to the next game.”
Doohan came through the ranks at Celtic and had loans at Dundee United, Ross County and Ayr. He then moved on to Tranmere and Forest Green before he returned to Aberdeen where he was understudy to Kelle Roos and now Mitov.
But he now has the chance in the next few weeks to stake his claim to become Aberdeen’s long-term No.1. Doohan said: “Obviously you won’t be playing every game but you just need to come in, work hard every day and prove yourself in training –put yourself in the manager’s eyeline.
“We’ve got a good goalie group that pushes each other on. Dimi’s been supportive the last week or so when he’s been injured with me playing and before that I was supportive of him. That’s just life as a goalie.”
After four games without a win the Dons are keen to get back on track at home to St Johnstone. Doohan said: “Listen, at a club like Aberdeen you need to win every game and we’ve been pushing to do that.
“We’ve been working hard on the training pitch, the team spirit from the start of the season to now has been absolutely brilliant, nothing’s changed. It’s just we need to get going and that starts again against St Johnstone. We’ve been great at the start of the season, we just keep going, keep going and believe in ourselves, that’s the main thing.”
Jimmy Thelin has been impressed with the job new manager Simo Valakari has started in Perth. The Dons boss said: “Simo Valakari has done very well and used the qualities of the squad in a very good way.
“Their manager changed some parts since our first game and they are doing well. It’s quite clear what he brings to the table with how they want to play and an identity is there. But it’s up to us to show the energy we did against Celtic in the last game. Then we need to find a way to use the Pittodrie atmosphere to make sure we take the points.”
