Declan Gallagher knows a bottom-six battle wasn’t in the brochure when he signed on for Aberdeen at the start of the season.
But the centre-back, who arrived at Pittodrie from Motherwell after being part of Scotland’ s Euros squad, isn’t one for making excuses.
Not when the stats are so damning. The Dons have kept just five clean sheets all season and, going into the final handful of games, Gallagher knows that’s unacceptable.
He said: “It’s not what I was expecting. A club like Aberdeen, we should be up there in the top six and fighting for European places.
“It’s been an up and down season for me. Coming in from the Euros on a massive high to then having to isolate with Covid, then injuries.
“That hit my start with Aberdeen. I’m getting a run in the team now. I’m happy at getting back in the team and getting some regular games.
“Hopefully, I can play my part in stopping any more defeats this season, push on to get a few more wins and end on a positive note.
“But it’s not been a great season for Aberdeen as a whole. We have to take that responsibility on our shoulders. It wasn’t good enough this season and we have to try to finish it as strongly as possible.
“Some of the games we’ve been beaten in, we’ve probably been the better team.
“But you can’t always say you’re the better team and you keep losing games and keep dropping points.
“Being a defender, the criticism we’ve taken this season has been justified. You can’t go a full season having five clean sheets.
“But some of the games have been frustrating. Look at Ross County, we have 14 attempts and they have three – one on target – and they score. So there is a bit of bad luck.
“But you can’t say it’s all bad luck. The responsibility is on our shoulders out on the pitch.”
Gallagher admits harsh words were spoken in the dressing room after some of the results that ended Jim Goodwin’ s side’s hopes of a top-six finish.
And he knows pride will ensure nobody freewheels through the five remaining fixtures, starting with today’s visit of another of his old clubs, Livingston.
He said: “I don’t want to say too much but there are always heated words after certain games.
“Regardless of who the manager was at the start of the season, or finishing the season, it’s down to us on the pitch. It’s not been good enough.
“We have to try and win as many games as we can and restore a bit of pride.”
