Aberdeen aim to celebrate century

Aberdeen FC manager Jimmy Calderwood wants his players to enjoy their UEFA Cup adventure, starting with Thursday's Group B opener against Panathinaikos FC in Greece.

Landmark appearance
The 1982/83 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup winners are making their 100th European appearance, having overcome Ukrainian side FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk on away goals in the first round. The Scottish Premier League team's reward: the chance to test themselves against Panathinaikos, FC Lokomotiv Moskva, Club Atlético Madrid and FC København.

'Proud European tradition'
"It's a great achievement for us to reach the group stage and there has been a lot of excitement among the fans with trips to Athens and Madrid," Calderwood told uefa.com. "This club has a proud European tradition going back to the days when [Sir] Alex Ferguson was in charge. You want to do well for the club and we'll give it our best shot."

Missing stars
Calderwood has problems for the Panathinaikos match with striker Darren Mackie, who scored the vital away goal at Dnipro, and winger Jamie Smith ruled out with ankle and hamstring injuries respectively. Their absence will force a change of tactics, but the manager is convinced he still has enough quality for Aberdeen to become the first Scottish club to win on Greek soil.

'Go for it'
"Losing Darren and Jamie are massive blows because of the pace they offer, which is so important in away matches especially in Europe," said Calderwood, who is boosted by the return of captain Scott Severin, Michael Hart, Chris Clark and Andrew Considine from injury. "However, we are not going to Athens to defend; because it's a mini-league we can still afford to go there with an attacking philosophy. Even if we go a goal behind, we will still go for it."

Home advantage
Realistically, Calderwood is targeting the home games against Lokomotiv and København as the ones to win, admitting that anything gained in Athens and Madrid would be a bonus. "Clearly, it would be a bonus to get something from our first game, but then again we got a result against a very good Dnipro side so it's not impossible," explained Calderwood. "Lokomotiv and København are quality teams but I am confident we can do well against them at Pittodrie."