Aberdeen defender Graeme Shinnie reckons beating Celtic at Pittodrie would be the perfect response to Tuesday’s frustrating Premiership defeat at Hamilton.
Aberdeen’s six-game winning run came to an abrupt and controversial end at New Douglas Park when a penalty from Brazilian forward Alex D’Acol won the game.
This was a game dominated by the decisions of referee Willie Collum, pictured below, as Aber-deen had three penalty claims rejected and was the first time in 10 matches the Dons had failed to score.
Shinnie, who captained the side at Hamilton, believes Saturday’s match against leaders Celtic at Pittodrie presents the perfect opportunity for his side to rally from the defeat.
The game will also be a dress rehearsal for next month’s Betfred Cup final at Hampden on November 27 – and Shinnie feels his side can approach both matches with optimism.
He said: “Celtic have had a good start. but we beat them twice at Pittodrie last season and need to remember that.
“We can take massive confidence from those results and we were on a good run before the Hamilton match.
“As long as we play well we know we will be in with a chance of winning.
“We had a bit of a slow start to the season, but we picked up form.
“We put a few wins together and it is all about doing that again and trying to put points on the board.
“We want to do that again on Saturday. A good result against Celtic would lay down a marker for the cup final, but we want to do well in the league as well.
“We want to get as many points as we can and Saturday is one of the games we need to do that.”
Hamilton had won only one of their opening nine matches in the Scottish Premiership before Tuesday’s victory against the Dons.
Shinnie knows he and his team-mates will have to play much better at Pittodrie on Saturday if they are to have any chance of defeating Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic, who ran out 4-1 winners when the sides met for the first time this season at Parkhead in August.
He added: “We were frustrated at Hamilton and we will watch the game back and pick out what we can learn.
“But we have to focus on Saturday and doing well there.
“We want to win every game we play and there is no better game to do that than Saturday’s.
“It is very frustrating whenever you have a setback like we did against Hamilton, but there is nothing we can do now.
“Instead, we need to focus on Celtic as that is a big one for us and try to bounce back with a win in front of our supporters.”
