It’s official – Aberdeen boast the best defence in world football following the team’s outstanding run of results.
The Dons have won their last seven consecutive Scottish Premiership matches to move top of the table and have not conceded a goal in their impressive consistent run.
Derek McInnes’ men are the first team outwith the Old Firm to lead the league in January since Hearts managed the feat in 1992.
The Reds’ winning streak is the fourth best in the game, with Santiago Wanderers, of Chile, who have won 10 in a row, Hibernians of Malta (nine) and German giants Bayern Munich (eight) the only top flight clubs to have bettered the Dons run.
But when it comes to keeping their opponents out, the Dons are in a class of their own with St Etienne, of France, and Moldovan club Milsami, who both have six straight clean sheets, the only top-flight clubs close to matching the efforts of the Pittodrie side.
Dons defender Ashton Taylor has been an ever-present in the Dons’ run of results alongside Mark Reynolds, Andrew Considine and goalkeeper Mark Brown, with Shay Logan playing in six of the seven games during the run.
Taylor, a summer signing from Tranmere Rovers, admits the streak has boosted confidence at Pittodrie.
The central defender, whose side has conceded 17 goals in 20 league matches so far, said: “We, at the back, just need to keep our concentration. We are doing that and we are putting our bodies on the line to stop the ball going into the net.
“It builds a lot of confidence if you keep clean sheets week in, week out. It is also important for me to build up relationships with my right back and my other centre half, Mark Reynolds.
“We have built up a good partnership and we just need to maintain that.
“I just need to take that into each game and concentrate on what I and the team are doing.”
Critics will dismiss the standard of Scottish football as a factor in Aberdeen’s run but Taylor, who has spent his career in England before moving to Scotland to join the Dons last summer, insists the game is in good health.
He said: “I have nothing but good things to say about Scottish football. It is just as good as it is in England.
“The players here have tremendous ability and each game we play is different.
“I tend to focus on what I have to do against each player. Playing against different players has helped me a lot. I can now get an understanding of what sort of player they are.
“When I first came here I was a bit taken aback because I was so used to playing in England against the same type of forward every week. Here there are different types of players and it is a lot fresher and you have to try to get to grips with them early doors. We have got a lot of good players in front of us who can score goals in any game.”
Taylor’s Scottish adventure is proving an immensely enjoyable one so far and one which has left the former Welsh under-21 international hungry for more action.
He said: “I just want to play week in and week out because doing that will only improve me as a player.
“I want to get as many games as I can and have a good career in the process.”