Lewis honoured to follow great captains at Aberdeen

New Aberdeen captain Joe Lewis admits he is honoured to follow in the footsteps of some of the club’s great skippers.

The goalkeeper is determined to emulate the likes of Willie Miller and Martin Buchan and lift silverware for the Dons.

Lewis has been named as the new club captain following Graeme Shinnie’s summer departure to Derby.

The 31-year-old, who recently signed a five-year contract, said: “I am really proud. It is a great honour to be a captain of a fantastic football club with a great history and hopefully, I can be a captain that creates our own history ourselves.

“There are a few people in the squad who could have been chosen after Graeme left. We have a number of good experienced lads in the squad. The gaffer just said he likes how I am in the changing room and around the lads and it was the obvious choice for him.

“That’s obviously a nice thing to have and hopefully I can take the club to some successful times.

“We have our lunch in the captain’s lounge and the walls are full of the history and all the names and what they have achieved is all written on the walls. I am honoured to have my name next to some of the names that are up there.”

Lewis will lead the Dons out for the first time in Thursday’s Europa League encounter with Finnish side RoPS Rovaniemi.

Speaking ahead of the first leg of the first qualifying round at Pittodrie, he said: “There is a special feel to these games and a special atmosphere. They are something I love.

“Some of the away games are in hostile atmospheres and it’s a lot more enjoyable to win a game in those sort of atmospheres.”