Leighton Clarkson targeting Aberdeen parting gift as on-loan Liverpool star determined to deliver Europe

Leighton Clarkson wants to leave Aberdeen with a farewell gift of European football before he returns to Liverpool.

The loanee midfielder has been a big player as Barry Robson’s side returned to third place in the Premiership at the weekend. It capped some turnaround for the Dons, who at one point had been trailing Hearts by more than 10 points in the fight to be best of the rest.

Yes the Dons themselves had been in the driving seat until the end of December but the turnaround since Robson replaced Jim Goodwin has been truly remarkable. He has now led them to five wins on the bounce and, as it stands, it would take a brave individual to back against them from finishing in third spot. Clarkson knows how Aberdeen’s history is built on European success and how important it is to get the club back into that arena.

The fact is that third place could guarantee Europa League football and potentially European football until Christmas, if Rangers or Celtic win the Scottish Cup.

Clarkson, when asked about Europe, admitted: “It would mean a lot. The fans have welcomed us since the day we got here. I know they are all footballing people and it hasn’t been that great over the last couple of seasons.

“To give them something back, I really want to do that for them. It is something we’ve embraced and are really happy with the way it is going. There are still seven cup finals for us. Our only focus is Ross County on Friday, which we know will be a really tough game.

“It could be a special end to the season but we are just looking at Ross County and making sure we do the business there and then we can look at the game after then.”

It is not the first time there has been chatter of third place at Aberdeen. They were third going into the