3/1 To Win
Graeme Shinnie was delighted to get more minutes under his belt and build match fitness against Girona after the 2019/20 Sky Bet Championship's big kick-off edges closer.
The midfielder, who signed from Scottish Premier side Aberdeen in the summer, started against the Spanish side and played just over an hour as the Rams fell 2-0 in the pre-season test.
Phillip Cocu fielded a young starting line-up for the majority of the match with Shinnie coming back into the side having been absent for the 5-2 victory over Burton Albion for the birth of his daughter back in Scotland.
With the start of the season fast approaching, Shinnie was happy to be back in action.
“It was good, it was nice to get a run out and get a bit of match fitness into my legs,” The Scotsman told RamsTV following the final whistle.
“The result was disappointing, but I thought we did alright in the end. I was desperate for it. I missed a few sessions during the week, so I was determined to get back down in time for the game and play a part in the game to get match sharpness.
“We have done most of our hard running, it is more about match fitness and getting that sharpness. I am delighted to get down and get involved.”
He added: “My wife gave birth to our beautiful daughter on Tuesday, so I missed the Burton game because my wife wasn’t too well, so I had to get back to Scotland and the manager was kind enough to give me some time off to be with her.
“I was pushing her a wee bit because I knew the game was coming on Thursday but the baby came on Tuesday morning! It was so important that I played a part tonight to get that fitness.”
The last pre-season test takes the Rams to Ibrox Stadium on Sunday, somewhere Shinnie is well acquainted with and a place where he has enjoyed success while at Aberdeen.
The 27-year-old has good memories of playing at Ibrox and is excited to go back for what he is sure will be a great challenge against Steven Gerrard's side ahead of the start of the season just eight days later.
“It is a great arena to play football in. A few of the boys haven’t been up and they will get to witness what it is like which is really good,” he said.
“It will be a great test for both teams in what will be the last game before the first game of the season albeit Rangers have had their Europa League games were competitive, but it is that last game before the league starts so both teams will want to do as well as they can.
“Aberdeen, Rangers is a massive rivalry and those games were so important to both sets of fans and it is games that I love.
“We did well there last year, won twice at Ibrox and once at Pittodrie as well. To do that is a great feeling to a club like Aberdeen. Sunday will be a bit different in a friendly and it is Derby so the rivalry is not there as much, but it will be a great game.”
