Dons keeper Lewis ready for the fight as games come thick and fast

Dons keeper Joe Lewis is relishing a congested fixture card and reckons packing in the games brings out his top form.

In a hectic December, Aberdeen will play nine games before the Premiership shuts down for a winter break.

The trip to St Mirren tomorrow represents the half-way point, as it is the fifth match of that December run.

Pittodrie boss Derek McInnes admitted his side looked tired in losing 2-0 to St Johnstone, after the rigours of facing Rangers and Celtic in Glasgow in just four days.

Aberdeen bounced back from that setback by defeating Livingston 3-2 on Tuesday to move back into the Premiership’s top six.

Rather than feeling fatigued, Lewis is raring to go and ready to do his bit to lift the Dons up the league table.

He said: “I love having to play all these games. The more games, the better, for me.

“I relish the opportunity to play two or three games a week because I feel that is when I get into a groove.

“Having all these games in December doesn’t take a toll on me, personally.

“Physically, if you get a niggle you have less time to recover from it. However, as a keeper, it doesn’t tend to have that much effect on me.”

The keeper has featured in every minute of every game for the Dons – while fit – since signing in summer 2016.

His only absence was enforced, having been sidelined for two months after undergoing knee surgery following a collision at Ibrox this January.

As a keeper, Lewis accepts that durability is partly because he does not constantly have to be on the move or running, like his team-mates.

The 31-year-old does have a degree of sympathy for his outfield team-mates who will have to rack up the appearances, and the miles, this month.

And he accepts it is this month when the squad depth will have to be utilised by boss McInnes.

He said: “I don’t get as tired physically because I am not running around as much as the others.

“I know the lads all cover a lot of miles during a game so maybe the manager might need rotation in the squad for the whole moth.

“However, we are all a fit bunch of lads. We only play one game more than most of the other teams because of the cup final.

“I really enjoy having all the games and obviously we get the break in January so we get away from the cold.

“For now, there are plenty of points to play for and it is a great opportunity to make strides in the league.”

The 1-0 Betfred Cup final loss to Celtic at Hampden was the beginning of a crammed period where the Dons are playing every three or four days.

Prior to December, the Dons had played just 13 league games from the opening Premiership match on August 6, a 1-1 draw with Rangers at Pittodrie.

This month they will have to pack eight league games into a month that began with a final.

Lewis said: “Earlier in the season we had three international breaks inside three months.

“It was a little bit stop-start so it is nice now to get your teeth into some games.”

December began with the bid for silverware as the Dons faced holders Celtic in the Betfred Cup final.

Lewis produced a magnificent penalty save to keep the Reds’ hopes of silverware alive. Referee Andrew Dallas controversially awarded a spot kick to the Hoops for hand-ball by Dom Ball, although the contact was outside the box and not deliberate.

Lewis said: “I have always enjoyed playing in the big games and it is nice to be able to make some saves.

“Obviously the penalty save was a good one to make as, at the time, it kept us in the final but unfortunately it did not have an effect on the end result.”

An overhead kick from teenager Lewis Ferguson two minutes into injury time secured a 3-2 win over Livingston to send the Reds back into the top six.

With the next two fixtures against the league’s bottom two sides, the opportunity is there to climb the table.

First, Aberdeen travel to bottom club St Mirren before hosting second-bottom Dundee in their game in hand on Tuesday.

Despite a period in the bottom half of the table, Lewis insists there was never any doubt the Red could make their way towards the top end.

Although Aberdeen had finished Premiership runners-up over four consecutive seasons, Rangers were hotly tipped to be Celtic’s main challengers.

Lewis insists the Reds do not care what anyone outwith Pittodrie thinks about their aspirations. He said: “Among ourselves, we are confident we can compete at the top end of the league. We need to keep doing that and make sure we are doing our own job.

“What everyone else wants to talk about, whether they have us down for favourites for second or Rangers or Celtic to win the league, whatever they say is not of interest to us.

“From now until the end of the month there are plenty of points to play for and it is a great opportunity to make strides in the league.”