Derek McInnes, the Aberdeen manager, remains pragmatic about the problems facing his side after the concession of nine goals in just four matches.

McInnes has acknowledged that there are defensive frailties in his team but insisted that the defeat by Hamilton Academical last Friday night, and loss of three goals in that match, would not send him into a panic as he seeks to rectify matters when Motherwell visit Pittodrie this evening.

However, the Aberdeen manager has warned his players that lapses such as those evident at New Douglas Park, the 3-2 win against Dundee and in the midweek draw with St Mirren, are unacceptable if they expect to be among the leading sides in the SPFL Premiership this season.

"Even in the games we have won, we have conceded goals that we should have defended better," said McInnes. "We beat Inverness Caley Thistle and Dundee but there were goals that we should have done better with. Sometimes because you have won the game people don't really see it and when you don't win the game, people tend to highlight it.

"We as a team know we can't go through the season losing cheap goals if we want to be successful. But we have carried more threat this season and scored more goals and hopefully that can continue, though losing soft goals is something that has to be dealt with.

"There has been different back fours with different individuals maybe making mistakes. We need to make better decisions and show far more determination when we are defending. The onus to score goals falls on the whole team and it is the same when we are defending."

McInnes also pointed to a run of four wins, a draw and a defeat as a fair haul for Aberdeen's efforts. He argues that such a run of form is certainly not enough to induce a panic at the Pittodrie club.

"The performance at Hamilton wasn't there and we deservedly lost the match," he said. "But there is no panic. There has to be a reality. We are one point worse off than we were last year and we are in the quarter-final of the League Cup; there is a lot to like about us.

"We are scoring goals and we have put in some decent performances but we are looking for that consistency like everyone else. The league is tight and we feel we should be doing better and we have to try to work hard for that. I do feel the answers are in the squad and that we'll prove ourselves over the course of the season."

Midfielder Ryan Jack, meanwhile, has advised his Aberdeen team-mates not to harbour thoughts of revenge on Motherwell following last season's controversial conclusion. The Fir Park side celebrated a final-day victory at Pittodrie to secure second place in the league.

"There's not really a feeling that we have a score to settle as we can't complain about what happened last season," he said of a day in which Craig Reid bundled in the decisive goal for Motherwell. "We had other opportunities to get the points that would have given us second place but we didn't take them.

"Coming so close to finishing second has just given us more determination for this season and hopefully we can go one better."