Lewis Ferguson has admitted Scott Brown’s on-field antics leave Aberdeen’s squad in stitches.
The 36-year-old was in peak wind-up mode against Rangers on Tuesday, waving Ryan Kent off the park after his red card before putting his arm round James Tavernier.
The Dons captain was also pictured at one point counting to nine on his fingers in a reference to Celtic’s successive titles.
Brown’s routine riled the travelling support Ferguson revealed he and his team-mates can’t get enough of it.
The 22-year-old insisted: “He is not shy but that is just the way he is. You don’t expect anything less from him.
“He gives them a bit and they give him a bit. It is a bit of back and forth.
“It is funny for us because we can laugh at the fans and ‘Broonie’ messing about. It’s the way he is and the type of guy he is.
“He buzzes off it and that stuff helps him to play better when people are on top of him and giving him a bit. That is what brings the best out of him.”
Ferguson was a pivotal figure in the 1-1 draw with the champions and league leaders.
He netted the equaliser from the penalty spot, just one of a clutch of flashpoints at Pittodrie.
And the midfielder revealed he got lucky with the spot-kick because the wind moved the ball in his run-up.
Ferguson admitted: “I’ve not missed one yet and touch wood I won’t miss the next one. I enjoy taking them and scoring.
“As I was running up to hit it, the ball has rolled. I am not sure if it was off the spot or not, but I just went with it. It put me off a wee bit but I went and put my foot through it.
“Thankfully it hit the net although it caused a wee bit of a scare.
“When I ran up and it blew towards me I felt like it wasn’t on the spot when I hit it. I thought if I miss I might get it again but if I score then I will take it.
“I just focused on getting good contact on the ball and I was thankful it hit the net.”
Ferguson has been linked with a wild move to Serie A but his only focus has been booting the Dons back into life for the second half of the season.
The Scotland cap was linked with a ridiculous bid from Cagliari which stated they wanted to take him
on loan and then would want to pay £3.5million if they avoided relegation from the top flight.
Boss Stephen Glass has insisted there has been no contact and laughed the entire story off as one of the craziest things he has heard.
But Ferguson did his talking on the pitch, as he marked his 150th appearance and 30th goal for Dons.
He said: “It’s a decent return for 150 games so I’m pleased about that. Long may that continue.
“I’m an Aberdeen player just now and I will be focused on playing for Aberdeen for the foreseeable unless something happens. I don’t know anything about that.”
The Scotland cap also thought he should have had an earlier opportunity from the spot when Allan McGregor took out Ryan Hedges before Rangers went up the park and took the lead.
Ferguson claimed: “I thought so with the one in the first half.
“From where I was standing, the tackle on Hedges looked like a penalty. I have not watched it back or seen it. The ref has seen it and had a decision to make, although thankfully he got the one right with the handball, but it could have been two.”
Aberdeen were arguably the better side against Rangers and Ferguson knows that has to be the standard that is maintained for the rest of the campaign, starting with Saturday’s home Scottish Cup clash with Edinburgh City.
The 22-year-old said: “Consistency, we have lacked that throughout the season.
“You can’t pop up here and there to produce good performances. You have to do it against Rangers or they will turn you over.
“Consistency is something we need to get in our game and to produce performances like that week in, week out.”
Dons have started to turn Pittodrie into a fortress and Ferguson said: “Our home form should always be decent. The crowd gets behind us and we gave them something to feed off, energy and enthusiasm to play and get forward.”
