Fans face nightmare trek to see Euro showdown

Dons fans travelling independently to the Ukraine better beprepared to face delays.

Pittodrie coach Sandy Clark admits his trip to see Dnipro play was"a bit of a nightmare."

Sandy waited for hours on end for connecting flights, on the waythere and back.

He said: "It's not a hellish trip for our fans, the people thereare very friendly and helpful, but it could be awkward."

The official Dons party are going in a private charter plane andwill take a limited number of supporters with them.

But the majority of the Red Army are expected to make their owntravel arrangements to go to the second leg in Dnipropetrovsk onOctober 4.

Sandy hopes they are lucky enough to avoid the problems heencountered.

He set out immediately after Aberdeen's 1-0 win over Kilmarnock atRugby Park.

Sandy flew via Edinburgh, London and Austria to Kiev, thencompleted the final 100 miles to Dnipro's game with Vorskala by car -having slept just four hours on Saturday night.

He then had a 4am check-in on Monday for the flight back to Kiev,where he waited six hours for a connecting flight to London.

Sandy got home at 9pm on Monday and was at Pittodrie at 9am thenext day to supervise training.

"I feel for the fans planning to go on their own," said Sandy. "Iwas only in the air about six hours either way, so it was a bit of anightmare."

Dons security chief John Morgan and director David Johnston arenow in Dnipropetrovsk sorting out facilities for the team and fans.

Supporters intent on travelling are advised to contact TMG SportTravel at www.tmgsport.com/aberdeen

Tickets for the home leg, on Thursday September 20, are now ongeneral sale at Pittodrie.