Aberdeen star Nicky Devlin makes vow as he reflects on 'frustrating' season after St Johnstone win

Aberdeen mainstay Nicky Devlin made his 50th appearance of the season with a tinge of disappointment as he reflected on the season that could have been.

The right-back has been instrumental to The Dons performing well in the group stages of the Europa Conference League and the journey to Viaplay Cup Final. He also played a crucial part to guide the team to the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup before penalty heartbreak put another Hampden trip on ice until next season.

All this while tremendous Premiership pressure saw the right-back maintain a tally of starting 34 of 35 games for Aberdeen. But the lacklustre performance in the league has detained Aberdeen in the lowly ranks of the bottom six.

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After the victory over St Johnstone, the right-back conceded: "It's 50 today and it's been a hell of a long season with the number of games we've played in all competitions. I've quite enjoyed it but we have probably come up short in all of them which is frustrating.

"Some slightly short, being unlucky in the cup final and semi-final but in terms of the league campaign we've been way short of where we wanted to be. At times this season we've shown we can be a right good side but we haven't done that enough. Ultimately that's why we are where we are in the Premiership table as you deserve to be wherever you finish in the league."

Aberdeen's struggle to level the demands of European and homegrown football led to Barry Robson losing his position. Aberdeen's directors believed the fight for the third spot was still on, but the appointment of Neil Warnock culminated into a catastrophe, reports the Daily Record.

Interim manager Peter Leven reversed the side's fortunes to avoid a relegation battle. Celebrating their recent win, Devlin said: "It's a lot of games but if you offered me that every season because you would be playing in European competition I'd happily take it."

He acknowledged that juggling between domestic and midweek European games had been challenging. He added: "It's obviously been difficult at times when the schedule was constant with the extra midweek games. Of course, it does take its toll on players and you have seen boys' form go up and down throughout the season."

"But if we talk about that we're looking for excuses, we've had enough on the park to go out and win games. Ultimately we didn't perform enough so we don't want to look at European football for excuses. The top teams are able to go again if they have games in midweek, they do what they have to do to get results."

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Devlin admitted inconsistency over the past few weeks has affected the team's progress adding: "We've not really been able to get a consistent run at it the last five or six weeks, going back-to-back with clean sheets and stuff. But when you're a footballer you really want to play."

With Aberdeen set to miss out on Europe next season due to their underperformance, Devlin hopes this will fuel motivation among his teammates under the leadership of incoming manager Jimmy Thelin.

As he concluded: "That's a big frustration. If European football doesn't get you going for next season to get back to it then nothing will. We had some unbelievable moments in Europe against some top teams and some results were good. If you don't want more of that then you're probably not at the right club."

Despite Aberdeen's recently found form under Leven, the coach was absent from this specific match due to an urgent surgery. The Reds have maintained a good run, staying undefeated in the league for six matches and not conceding any goals in their last four games.

Devlin offhandedly remarked: "It's probably been a little too late this run we are on but it's always good to keep clean sheets. We are not as open now and that's a big bit to do with the way we're keeping the ball better."

Although Aberdeen commanded control over the match, the only goal came from the penalty spot after Devlin was tripped up in the box by Andrew Considine.

Despite Saints' boss Craig Levein label calling it soft, Bojan Miovski continued undeterred with his 25th goal of the season. Devlin admitted, "I've not seen it back but at the time it felt like there was contact and that's what VAR is there for to decide these things."

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Stefan Gartenmann narrowly prevented Benji Kimpioka's attempt from scoring for the Saints. Meanwhile, Junior Hoilett had a near miss when his free-kick hit the crossbar.

Aberdeen stayed in firm control in the second half of the game, providing some consolation for the absent Leven.

Reflecting on the situation, Devlin added: "We only lost him on the day of the match because everything was done beforehand. That's credit to Pete, Scott Anderson and the rest of the backroom staff. On matchday you just do whatever's gone on all week. We saw Pete after the game on Zoom with his gown on, it was good to see him in good spirits."