Jimmy Thelin reveals Scottish Cup fever has made it to Sweden as Aberdeen boss knows how big Celtic battle is

The Red Army sold out their Hampden showpiece allocation of 20,000 briefs within hours as they bid for glory

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin has admitted that Scottish Cup final mania has even made its way to Sweden.

The Dons take on Celtic in the Hampden showcase on the 24th of this month.

The Red Army sold-out their 20,000 allocation within hours.

The former Elfsborg manager admitted it has also sparked an interest in back in his homeland.

The Aberdeen boss said: “We know how big the Scottish Cup is for the club, the players and the fans.

“We sold out our tickets so quickly, I think it was only in a few hours.

“It says a lot about our support and hopefully we can keep it going.

“The fans have been amazing at the home games and also the away games, so that is something we have to keep going and build on.

“It is never us and them, it is about everyone collectively pushing in the same direction.

“Even the media at home in Sweden have been making contact.

“It will be so nice to be in my first final, especially with it being the Scottish Cup. The feeling is good for everyone.”

It will be Thelin’s first managerial final in senior football but before then he wants to claim a European spot via the Premiership.

They are still in the hunt for third spot but are likely to need a win against Rangers on Sunday.

Thelin has Alexander Jensen and Kristers Tobers fit.

He admitted it is a major boost having the Latvian skipper back but he has to manage him with three games in six days. He also knows his squad will all be pushing for cup final places.

Thelin stated: “Kristers is training, he is really hungry but it’s the timing really.

“He was much better this week than he was last week, so with the tight week we have coming up I think he will be available for one of those games.

“We will need to share the load between the players, it’s Sunday to Saturday so we need to be clever and keep the energy high. It has been frustrating for him.

“We took a calculated risk with him because he came from a pre-season but at that moment we needed someone to help us out of the challenging period we were in.

“He was a player who could get us out of the other side, so we played him. Having the cup final to aim for helps – everyone wants to be fit for that!

“It will be a tough job for me to select the players when that arrives. There is a good feeling inside the squad.”