Rangers summer recruit ready for rapid rivalry schooling as Pittodrie 'pressure' cooker met with emphatic reply
The Albanian international has outlined his expectations of Aberdeen and playing on the left-wing rather than as a No.10
Nedim Bajrami believes Rangers head into Wednesday night’s hotly anticipated Premiership clash with Aberdeen at Pittodrie “without pressure” - despite their mediocre start to the campaign.
The Albanian international - who has been one of the Ibrox club’s most impressive summer signings since joining in a £3.4 million deal from relegated Serie A outfit Sassuolo - admits he is aware of the Dons’ terrific run of form which sees Jimmy Thelin’s men sit joint-top of the table alongside Celtic.
However, the 25-year-old reckons the Light Blues have enough quality to come away from Pittodrie with three vital points as they look to make inroads into the six point deficit that has seen left them playing catch-up early in the season.
“I think every game is big for us, every game is important,” Bajrami declared. “We know tomorrow how important the game is against Aberdeen because they are still unbeaten this season. I don’t know the past of Aberdeen, but I think this season they had a really good start. So we go there and give our best performance ever. We know our qualities and we know that we are a strong team.
“We have a lot of new players, young players, they have to adapt to the team. Even me, I am new here, so tomorrow will be a hard game. A big battle, so everyone is ready and we do our best to win the game. Yes, for sure we believe. We know Aberdeen are really good, so we go there without pressure and do our best to win the game.
“We know there are a lot of games this season. Our focus is game by game. They’re all important, so we play Aberdeen and the cup game. Everyone has to be ready because there will be a rotation here. We know that even the cup is really important for us because we want to win trophies.
Asked what he has been told about the fierce rivalry between the two clubs, Bajrami went on: “I didn’t speak yet to the team, I think tonight they are going to tell me something about that. For me, every game is important. As I said before, Aberdeen this season had a good start, but it is still unbeaten.
“We got there to try and win the game. They’re going to come from the first minute to the last minute really hard to press us maybe and we’re going to try to do our best against them.”
Bajrami played most of his football in Italy in the number 10 position behind the striker, but Clement has opted to start him on the left flank amid calls from supporters to see the playmaker occupy a more central role. However, it’s a position he is happy to continue filling.