Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie insists he and his team-mates must show Rangers the real Aberdeen on Sunday as the Dons try to bounce back from their Ibrox mauling on Wednesday.
The Dons’ lead on Rangers was cut to three points following a 3-0 defeat in Glasgow, their third defeat in six league matches.
Shinnie knows the performance from his side was well below the standard expected at Pittodrie and has to improve when the teams meet again this weekend.
He said: “There is no better game to come round than this one on Sunday.
“We can put things right and we need to do that. We need to take a good look at ourselves from Wednesday and make sure we are more prepared for Sunday.
“We’ve picked up some good results but I don’t think we have hit the heights we know we can, barring a couple of games.
“I don’t think we have been as good as we can be. We need to pick ourselves up now and show what a team we are on Sunday.”
The Dons will go into Sunday’s game without two of their most creative players with Gary Mackay-Steven missing after suffering an injury at Ibrox while Ryan Christie is suspended following his red card in the match.
Shinnie is disappointed at how poorly Aberdeen started the game but hopes a vocal home support can help lift the Dons’ on Sunday.
He said: “Everyone is gutted, naturally, after a performance like that. The motivation will be there to right a wrong and do a lot better than we did at Ibrox.
“It was very disappointing. The first half especially we never got going at all. We made the worst possible start we could have asked for. We came out to frustrate them and to get the crowd on their back but the opposite happened.
“They got their goal and that gave them a massive lift. In the first half we weren’t good enough and gave them too much time and space.
“We are desperate to win the game on Sunday. We will need to be on the top of our game because they will be looking to hunt us down.
“We will rest up and prepare for it. It will be different with the crowd behind us. We need to use the crowd so we can unite as one.”
