Dante Polvara urges Aberdeen to start Scottish Cup defence with pride and fight

Dante Polvara is looking for Aberdeen to show their mettle when they begin their defence of the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup against Championship side Raith Rovers next Sunday.

The Dons’ interim boss Peter Leven suffered a second defeat by Rangers in a week on Sunday night when a strike from Gers midfielder Thelo Aasgaard and a James Tavernier penalty gave the visitors a deserved win at Pittodrie.

The Granite City side, who won the Scottish Cup last May with a penalty shoot-out victory over Celtic at Hampden Park, have lost six and drawn one of their last seven games in all competitions and sit in eighth place in the William Hill Premiership

Polvara, 25-year-old utility player from the USA, is looking for a reset this week.

He said: “Pete has been great and it is definitely not down to him.

“Our few sessions with him have been great and positive so it is disappointing we weren’t able to transmit that onto the field on Sunday.

“I would like to think that with a full week we can find a way to get some confidence going into this game.

“We are at home and have to play with our chests out.

“We can’t forget the effort and fight as they will bring plenty of that I’m sure.

“We need to give a performance that people can be proud of, that is a necessity at this point.

“It is a massive game to us to prove that we deserve to be here, to wear this shirt and badge and play for the club.

“There have been times where people have really shown what they can do although it has faded a little bit.

“We have to help one another and put in a serious team performance. I want everyone to have a great performance with a clean sheet and goals. That is not me saying that it is going to be easy as it will be a real fight.”

Polvara believes the solutions to a return to form are in the dressing room.

He said: “I would like to think so as I see these guys day in day out and know they have a lot of quality.

“I have said since the start of the season this might have been the strongest squad since I have been here in terms of quality.

“I think personality wise we have a lot of young guys which obviously takes time. But we don’t have a lot of time here. We need to find a way to turn it around.

“I believe in the guys I play next to and the guys on the bench, those not in the squad. I know they have something to offer and something to give, that’s why they are here.

“Right now it is not clicking and we are all looking in the mirror trying to find the answer within ourselves, and with each other.

“With the situation we are in we have to find something to boost us.”