MARKO REALLY KNOWS HIS TOUGH

Dons ace relishes battles with best in the Conference League

- SCOTT BURNS

MARKO LAZETIC is probably one of the few Aberdeen players who was delighted with their nightmare Conference League draw.

The Dons couldn't have gotten it much harder and they've already lost narrowly to Shakhtar Donetsk and been annihilated by AEK Athens.

They now face AEK Larnaca, who have won both their games so far, and Thursday's clash in Cyprus is followed by matches against Noah, Strasbourg and Sparta Prague.

Qualifying for the knockout stages will be a tall order but the former AC Milan striker relishes the challenge of playing under pressure.

And he wants the Dons to prove they can compete with some top clubs.

Lazetic said: “I grew up playing at Red Star Belgrade.

“It's pressure since you start playing at seven years old because that’s a club who cannot lose games. So I love those types of matches.

“When we were doing the draw for the games, I was hoping we'd get the best teams because I didn’t want to go into the Conference League and play easier teams just to win.