Dundee United midfielder Chris Erskine admits it would be special for him to complete the journey from the juniors to European football.
Just six years ago, the midfielder was strutting his stuff for Kilbirnie Ladeside amid the blood and thunder of the Ayrshire game.
Now, if all goes well for the Tangerines in the remainder of the Premiership campaign, Erskine will be looking out out his passport for a tilt at next season’s Europa League.
If they can catch Inverness Caley Thistle in third spot they will make it regardless but they can still get there by finishing fourth and looking for either Celtic or ICT to lift the Scottish Cup.
They will do themselves a massive favour by beating Aberdeen today at Pittodrie, with victory taking to within three points of the Highlanders with the teams still to meet twice.
Erskine said: “Third place is still there for us and if we win at Aberdeen we are only three points behind Inverness and we still have to play them a couple of times,” he said.
“Third place would be a big achievement for us.
“People have said it has all been doom and gloom but if we were to finish third then that would be viewed as a successful season.
“European football is one of the main things we want at this club and we want to be involved in that.
“It would be great for me and another thing to tick off the list.
“I was playing junior football from when I was 21 until I was signed by Partick Thistle at 22.
“European football is not something I thought would have happened even a few years ago.
“You couldn’t get any further away, playing in the juniors!
“It would be something to look forward to over the summer.
“Some of the boys who have been through it with United have mentioned their experiences and it is something you want to do, to play against team from other countries and to test yourself against better players.
“It would be a big experience and it would be something I would be proud to say I have done.”
“European football is one of the main things we want at this club and we want to be involved in that.”
The Tangerines will travel up the road today in upbeat mood after getting a long-awaited league win last Saturday against Hamilton Accies thanks to Erskine’s winning goal.
He admitted the mood in the camp has been extremely positive.
“We were on a bad run but we knew we would come out of it with a bit of hard work,” he said.
“It took longer than we wanted but there has always been a feel-good factor about the place.
“We knew that we would need to scrap for things against Hamilton and thankfully we were able to bring the bad run to an end.
“It was a good goal and some decent build-up play from Charlie Telfer and Mario Bilate in the build-up and I just managed to put the ball into the net.
“It was a good win but we were far from our best and that is something we need to improve on.”
The Dons, of course, will be extremely tough opponents as they try desperately to hang on to the coattails of league leaders Celtic.
He said: “They have been great all season, sitting in their behind Celtic.
“They have been hard to beat all season and it will be another tough one for us but we want up there on the opening day and got a good result and hopefully we can do that again.”
“Consistency is the main word for Aberdeen.
“They have been consistent throughout the season as where we have done it in spells and then had a long bad spell.
“They have been consistent and we haven’t. We have beaten them twice this season and that can give us heart going into this game.”