Aberdeen's inconsistency this season hasn't pleased manager Jimmy Calderwood, but he won't be reaching for the panic button just yet as his side bid to keep at bay any thoughts of a resurgence by Motherwell, their opponents at Pittodrie today.
Aberdeen's inconsistency this season hasn't pleased manager Jimmy Calderwood, but he won't be reaching for the panic button just yet as his side bid to keep at bay any thoughts of a resurgence by Motherwell, their opponents at Pittodrie today.
Both teams sit outside the top six but their sights are firmly set on Hearts, who currently sit in third, eight points ahead of Aberdeen and nine above Motherwell, going into the weekend.
"If we win and Hearts lose then the gap is only five points," Calderwood pointed out, "and they come here in a few weeks. So third place is still certainly achievable. We were 11 points behind Dundee United last season and ended up ahead of them."
Aberdeen will have striker Darren Mackie in the side following injury but there are slight doubts over the fitness of Zander Diamond and Lee Miller. Calderwood will need his best players if we wants to mount real pressure on Hearts.
"We have got seven games left in this quarter of the season," he added, "and we have to win a big percentage of them. I would think we will need to win five of the next seven if we want to be in a good position going into the run in before the split.
"As for Motherwell, I have been surprised by their inconsistency. They have got good players. Stephen Hughes and the front players are very dangerous and Stevie Hammell is a player I have tried to get a few times. So we know we will have to be at our best."
Derek Young, the Pittodrie midfielder, agreed. "We'll be playing attacking football," he said, "and I'm pretty sure Motherwell will be, too. It has the makings of a fantastic game."
This afternoon's match will be Calderwood's 200th in charge of Aberdeen, but he said: "I will only be celebrating the 200 games if we have the three points."
As for Motherwell, they have had to endure double training sessions this week after Mark McGhee was persuaded to give his players an extra day off ahead of their 4-1 defeat to Hibernian last weekend.
McGhee was "embarrassed"
by that defeat as his team slipped to ninth place in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League, yet this week he has sensed a determination to make amends.
"I have been looking for reasons why we were the way we were last week," he said. "Part of it was our preparation was different. We had played the two Old Firm games and then looked very tired when we lost 1-0 to Falkirk. So I thought we should ease up on them a bit.
"We did our usual weights and recovery session on the Sunday and, for the first time, gave them Monday off.
"We lightened it up and only had one training session each on Tuesday and Wednesday, and it was almost the players who persuaded me they should have their usual Thursday off and they would be fine.
"We had a light training session on the Friday and it resulted in us just not being right. We weren't up to speed, we weren't focused and it ended up in a really poor performance.
"So we all take responsibility, me included, and what we have done this week, from Sunday, is focus on the Aberdeen game."
He added that he has been impressed by the reaction of his players. "We feel we let the fans down and everyone seems really determined," he said. "Everybody wants to play, they are all champing at the bit in training.
"Most of the ones who didn't play are trying to put themselves in my face saying, The rest have let you down, I want to play'. And the others who did play are training in a way that says, Play me again and I will make up for it'."
