Graeme Shinnie insisted the Aberdeen players are paying no attention to suggestions they are destined to be whipping boys in Saturday’s Scottish Gas Scottish Cup final showdown with treble-chasing Celtic.
The Dons head to the national stadium on the back of a poor second half to the season and having been demolished 6-0 in their last Hampden clash with the Hoops in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final in November.
Celtic, by contrast, have won every major final they have contested across Brendan Rodgers’ two reigns and are buoyed by having defeated Jimmy Thelin’s team 5-1 at Pittodrie in the penultimate William Hill Premiership match of the season just over a week ago.
Our captain could make his 300th appearance for the Dons tomorrow.
We asked him some questions on his 299 appearances so far 👊 pic.twitter.com/6gIkdsoRJx
— Aberdeen FC (@AberdeenFC) May 23, 2025
When it was put to Shinnie that some people would see a Dons victory as one of the biggest upsets in Scottish Cup history, the captain said: “I don’t think I would go to that extreme, but it is what it is. People can say whatever they want. It’s a bit irrelevant to us.”
The final is set to be Shinnie’s 300th appearance across two spells with Aberdeen, but he said his side will derive no additional motivation from being written off.
“Not really, because there should be a motivation and we should be fired up without that anyway,” he said. “Naturally, people are going to talk and say what they’re going to say, but that doesn’t come into our camp.
“It’s a Scottish Cup final, so if you aren’t fired up for that anyway, then there’s something seriously wrong.”
Shinnie acknowledges his side face a formidable task but he takes some encouragement from the fact Celtic have lost four domestic matches this term – twice to Rangers and once each to Hibernian and St Johnstone.
The Dons pulled off a 2-2 draw at Celtic Park in mid-October before their strong early-season form fizzled out.
“You need to try and stop them from playing well and try and make a dent in the game, not let them get into the fluidity that they enjoy,” said Shinnie.
“Yes, it’s hard, they’re a great team and they’ve dominated Scottish football for many years, but they’re not unbeatable and that’s been proven this season. It’s going to take a lot of hard work but it’s a cup final and anything can happen on the day. It’s a big opportunity for the squad and there’s a lot of hunger there to go and try and achieve it.”
Shinnie won the Scottish Cup once previously as Inverness captain a decade ago and he would love to do so again and banish Aberdeen’s 35-year wait to land the old trophy. Their last triumph in the competition came in 1990 when they defeated Celtic on penalties following a 0-0 draw.
“It would be right at the top to win it again,” he said. “It’s hard enough to win it once, but to do it twice would be something special.
“It would mean everything to me. It would be a very special day, not only for me but for the supporters and for the club and everyone involved. It would be a massive achievement for us all.”
Aberdeen’s last Scottish Cup final was also against Celtic in 2017 when they took the lead before going down 2-1 to a stoppage-time winner from Tom Rogic. Shinnie is the only player currently at the Dons who played that day eight years ago.
“We had the great opportunity to win it, but they scored in the last minute, which was tough to take,” he recalled. “Obviously, it has no bearing now. It’s a completely different team and completely different surroundings. But it obviously hurt at the time and it was a tough one to take.”
