Graeme Shinnie fed up of cup final heartbreak with Aberdeen (2025)

The Pittodrie skipper has lost in all of his four cup final appearances with the Dons

Graeme Shinnie accepts cup finals should be the norm for Aberdeen - but he wants to get to the next stage by lifting trophies.

The skipper led his Dons into the Scottish Cup final with a scrappy extra-time win over Hearts at Hampden. It sees them return to the national stadium with a clash against Brendan Rodgers’ treble chasing Celtic side on Saturday, May 24th,

The Reds’ last trophy was the 2014 League Cup and the last time they got their hands on the Scottish Cup was 35 years ago.

Shinnie claimed: “Yes, it's always big, it's always a place that we want to be. Like I said, finals is where this club should be, but we need to win them now.

“It's fine getting there, but we want to try and lift a bit of silverware. The focus now goes on to the league. We will try to have a strong finish to that and then we'll focus on the final when it comes.”

This will be manager Jimmy Thelin’s first final and he will be looking to get Aberdeen over that final hurdle. Shinnie has never won anything with his hometown team and is desperate to deliver. He has lost in four finals, three times to Celtic, twice in the League Cup and then in the 2017 Scottish Cup.

The other time was Rangers when they lost the League Cup under Barry Robson. The Dons star is sick of the sight of Rodgers’ all-conquering Hoops because they have denied him on several occasions. He will be hoping that Aberdeen can defy the odds and deliver this time around.

He acknowledged: “I don't know, it is tough. We had ones in the past where shoulda, woulda, coulda. There were moments in those games where we could maybe have won them, but we didn't. But, yes, this is another chance coming around and we want to take it.”

Shinnie was just relieved to put nine men Hearts to bed. His side had come in for criticism for blowing a two goal lead and two points in the draw with Rangers.

The left-back admitted: “It went the other way this time. It was similar-ish. They had a few counter-attacks just like Rangers did, but Rangers took the chances and scored the goals.

“Hearts had a couple of breakaways, but all-in-all we had a lot of the ball and tried to create openings and get balls into the box. I thought they dealt with it really well. They defended well and I'm just thankful that we scored late.”

Shinnie, who lifted the Scottish Cup with Inverness back in 2014, also believes Aberdeen are now starting to shock a bit more consistency and look to have got things on track after an alright mid-season wobble.

He claimed: “Experience can be overrated sometimes, but we've got a squad that are hungry to try and lift silverware. We're in a good moment with how we're playing.

“We got through our bad run and we've started to hit a little bit of form with how we want to play and how we want to do things. “It's a good moment to get us into this position and to be in the final, it's where we want to be.”

The big games are coming thick and fast and on Saturday Hibs make the trip to Pittodrie. They are three points clear of the Dons in third place and Thelin’s men will want to draw level with them. The fight for third place could guarantee European group stage football if Celtic were to win the cup. If Aberdeen lifted it then they would get direct entry.

The Dons host Hibs, travel to St Mirren and Rangers, host Celtic and then take the trip to Dundee United on the final day. Shinnie acknowledged: “Yeah, it is and they'll be as big as we make them. First one coming around at Hibs, which is one we know we have to win as they're three points ahead of us.

“So that's a big one right away. Then you deal with each one as they come. We've got a big game coming up against Hibs, that we're already preparing for. “Like I said, we don't just want to make finals, we want to try and win them.

"But it should be six big games to end the season. It's where we want to be. Like I said, it's important now to focus on the league and try and continue a good vein of form and then be in a good moment when the final comes around."

Palestine striker Oday Dabbagh was the semi-final hero. The on-loan Charleroi striker has netted four goals now and has made an impression on his new teammates.

Shinnie admitted: “He's been good. The team's been playing pretty well so he's found it difficult to maybe get starts in the game. But from the moments he's had, he's scored goals and important ones at that as well.

“So I’m delighted for him and delighted for the squad and for everyone at the club for getting through.”