Russell Anderson is not one to seek excuses for the dismal season that he and his Aberdeen team-mates have experienced, but he recognises the club's glory days will most likely never return.

The defender – brought back to Pittodrie by Craig Brown last season following a disappointing and injury-ravaged five years in English football – is adamant, however, that the form of his team is no reason to end their search for improvement.

Aberdeen have been left to see out the campaign in the bottom half of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League but that is not a fate which Anderson has come to accept willingly. "We are not as good as we used to be but that should not be an excuse for not being better than we are," he said.

"If you look back at 1983 and beating Real Madrid in the final of the European Cup-Winners' Cup, we will never be at that level again. We can't compete with that. But that is not to say we can't improve on what we have got as a team. In fact, there's an awful lot we can improve on.

"Fans have to be realistic but they shouldn't be pessimistic, either. We'd like to give them something to be hopeful about and that's what we are trying to do under Derek McInnes [who took charge of his first match as manager in the goalless draw with Hibernian on Monday]. There's been a response."

That process continues against Kilmarnock at Pittodrie today as the home side seek to sharpen a cutting edge that has been absent for much of the season, save for the contribution of Niall McGinn. The striker has scored 19 times this season, earning a place on the shortlist for the PFA Scotland Player of the Year award to boot.

It is also the kind of form which will have other clubs attempting to prise him away from Aberdeen. "Everyone would like Niall to stay," said Anderson. "He has been an important player for us and his goals have been huge. If you took his goals out of the team this year we would have really struggled."

Aberdeen are not the only club gripped by a malaise, with Kilmarnock also seeking to use Pittodrie has a safe space to air a few of their issues. The Ayrshire club squandered an opportunity – or more accurately two opportunities – to consolidate a spot in the top six and have gained just a point from their last two matches.

A home defeat by Hearts last weekend provoked some supporters to jeer their side, although Kenny Shiels does not expect his players to allow that to get to them. "They haven't been affected at all – it's just one of those things that happens at grounds all over the world," said the Kilmarnock manager.

"It's not in our remit to worry about those kinds of things. We are disappointed after last week and we are trying to build a renewed energy to go and try to get something from Aberdeen."

Shiels considers the Pittodrie side to have already shown a positive response to the appointment of McInnes. "They showed that on Monday night, they had a good energy about them and it was always going to be tough," he said.