Darvel midfielder Jordan Kirkpatrick is relishing the opportunity to face his former boss Jim Goodwin.
The West of Scotland Premier Division side welcome Aberdeen to Recreation Park in Monday’s Scottish Cup fourth round, and the 'Vale ace can't wait.
The Ayrshire side set up the glamour tie by knocking out League One Montrose in the last round and have been producing ever since and currently sit top of the table after thirteen games.
Kirkpatrick knows all too well however that Monday’s game will be a bigger challenge than anything they’ve faced so far this season.
He said: “Montrose were a good side but if you look through our squad there’s boys with a lot of experience who have played at a good level and we believe in ourselves with abundance.
“We went into that game just like we would any other and didn’t treat it as if it was any bigger an occasion than our normal league games and I think we showed on the day that we’re just as good as anyone.
“When I was with Dumbarton we played Aberdeen in a Scottish Cup tie up at Pittodrie and we held them off for a good while before their quality and experience showed in the last twenty minutes.
“It will be just as tough on Monday and we’ll give Aberdeen all the respect they deserve but we’ll believe that we can go out and get a result that our fans are hoping for.”
The 30-year-old knows the under-fire Dons boss well, having played with and been managed by him during his time at Alloa.
Goodwin signed for the Wasps in 2016 before taking over the managerial post when Jack Ross left for St Mirren and Kirkpatrick was a big admirer of the job the Irishman did at the Indodrill.
He said: “Jim is a great guy and he was a big character in the dressing room for us, as he had been throughout his whole career.
“Sometimes when players transition into becoming the manager at the same club it can be difficult, but you could tell he was always going to do well by the way he talked about the game and his outlook on things.
“His training sessions were always very good and he had that presence about him to put across the message he wanted and I think that’s why we achieved the success we did.”
Goodwin’s Alloa side eventually gained promotion to the Championship in 2018 and Kirkpatrick played a pivotal role in this triumph, scoring the winning goal in extra time against Dumbarton in the play-off final.
This success was key to the rise in Goodwin’s managerial stock and it wasn’t too long after that St Mirren came calling for his services, a fact the midfielder is all too happy to remind the Dons boss of when they cross paths again on Monday.
He said: “I’ll speak to Jim and Lee before the game and definitely have a bit of banter with them about it.
“It was an important goal for us at the time and I’m just hoping I can score another important goal again on Monday, although to be honest I’d take any of the boys to score if we can pull off a result!”
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