Rijeka v Aberdeen: New dad Shay Logan targets Europa League win for little baby Zeplin

Shay Logan wants to celebrate the birth of his son with a win in Rijeka

SHAY LOGAN is hoping for a baby bounce in Rijeka after the birth of son Zeplin River at the weekend.

The Aberdeen ace had no say in the new arrival’s name – but he’s determined to play his part in a Europa League shock in Croatia.

Logan is hoping little Zeplin – nothing to do with rock icons Led Zeppelin – will be welcoming dad home with the Dons still in the hunt for the second leg.

Logan said: “I’ve only had three days of it but I love it. Being a dad is the best job ever. It’s the only job that’s better than being a footballer. It’s difficult because I only had the little boy on Saturday and I’ve had to go away this week.

“If we get a good result tomorrow it would be a fine end to the week.

“You’d have to ask my missus about the name. I think it’s only fair because I’ve already had a little boy and girl and she wanted to choose the name this time.

“I like the name. I wasn’t too keen on it at first but sometimes you have to just give in. And when you see his little face, he does looks like a Zeplin.”

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Rijeka – which is Croatian for river, aptly – hold no fears for the full-back despite their impressive European record.

The Croats are unbeaten in three years at home in the Europa League with the likes of Lyon, Sevilla, Real Betis, Feyenoord and Standard Leige suffering in the Kandrida.

He said: “I know they are really strong at home and are favourites. We know we are a strong capable team too and we’ve had some really good results. We are confident
whoever we play.

“We’re not unaware of the difficulty of the task but it’s something we are well up for.

“It will be a different game in Aberdeen. They have the crowd and the weather and maybe that’s an advantage here but I would like to think we’ll have the advantage next week when we play in front of 14,000 fans at Pittodrie.

“I don’t think we were lucky against Shkendija. I always think the better team wins over two legs. We play Rijeka, we are not playing the Macedonians.

“It’s a different game, it’s tournament football. We are going into the game with high spirits. We can definitely progress if we stick with what we need to do.”