Langfield won’t fail plastic cup test

Dons keeper’s vow in cup showdown

By Andy Groundwater

Published:

NO FEAR: Dons goalie Langfield is determined to get a result at Alloa.

ABERDEEN keeper Jamie Langfield is adamant Alloa’s plastic pitch will not derail the Dons’ cup dream.

The Reds face a tricky trip to the artificial surface at Recreation Park for the Homecoming Scottish Cup fourth round tie on Saturday.

Manager Jimmy Calderwood admitted in yesterday’s Evening Express he could be forced to leave out six top team stars over fears the pitch could end up injuring his players.

But Langfield – who admits he is not a fan of synthetic surfaces – insists the Dons must remain focused.

He said: “We don’t know anything about Alloa, and will be playing on a plastic pitch as well, so we are going into the unknown.

“Fortunately, I played on that sort of surface when I was at Dunfermline, so have a bit of experience of it.

“People say these plastic pitches are the way forward, but I don’t think you can beat grass.

“I’m not a great believer in the plastic pitches. The bounce of the ball isn’t true, boys slip and you don’t know the correct footwear to put on.

“There are a lot of different issues, but we were testing it out at Alloa today, and hopefully we will be okay come Saturday.

“There is no point in us going down there and making excuses about the pitch.

“They will be used to playing on it, but it will be the same for both sides. The pitch is there, we need to play on it, and that is that.

“It is a massive game, we are not treating them as a Second Division team, we will treat them the same as every other team.

“We will prepare well for the game and we know it is going to be tough. It is up to us to try to break them down and get the right result.”

Langfield conceded twice as the Reds crashed to a 2-0 defeat at Hamilton in their opening game of 2009.

A dismal display brought a four-game winning streak to an end at New Douglas Park, but the 29-year-old Scotland squad keeper is determined to bounce back against Allan Maitland’s side.

He said: “It was a disappointing start to the year, and everyone was gutted at the way we performed.

“We had chances in the game, but found it hard to break them down and they got the lucky breaks.

“We lacked that cutting edge up front which was disappointing, but I am sure we will turn it around against Alloa.

“There aren’t many teams who will go to Hamilton and win. They sit in, and at one point against us, had six in the midfield, so it was really crowded.

“We just couldn’t break through them, and when we did, we just missed out on that wee bit of luck.”

Langfield was on the bench when the Dons slumped to a disastrous defeat to Queen of the South in last year’s Scottish Cup semi-final.

And he is determined to make it back to the national stadium.

He said: “I still think about that semi-final.

“I would love to get there this year.

“It was a disappointing time for the club, but it would be great to get back to that sort of occasion and go one step further this year.”