Aberdeen will be hoping to show lessons have been learned when they come face to face with the team which dished out their first league defeat of the season this weekend.
The Dons’ trip to Motherwell on September 11 was Aberdeen’s most dominant away display, in possession terms at least, of the season so far.
Yet, despite having 75% of the ball the Dons left Fir Park with a 2-0 defeat.
So what went wrong?
Two things really – Aberdeen were wasteful in front of goal and poor defensively. As we saw in the matches which followed the defeat to Well, it is a fatal combination to a team’s hopes of winning matches.
The game at Fir Park doubled as Marley Watkins’ debut following his return to the Dons on a permanent deal.
He was rusty, understandably, in his first outing of the season and on another day the former Caley thistle attacker could have had a hat-trick.
He headed straight at Liam Kelly, saw one shot saved and then had another close range effort blocked.
Add in chances for Lewis Ferguson and Calvin Ramsay and you can see why Stephen Glass was frustrated at his side failing to convert any of their 20 attempts at goal.
Seeing his side concede two goals from the two opportunities Motherwell managed on target would have done little to help the manager’s mood either.
The warning shot had been fired prior to Kevin van Veen’s opener with a cross to the back post finding the unmarked Tony Watt only for the attacker to miss the target.
When the same ball in to the same area found van Veen unmarked, he succeeded where his team-mate failed by heading Motherwell into the lead.
When Aberdeen switched off again in the second half, it was effectively game over for the visitors.
The build-up to the second goal was even more disappointing with a free-kick out wide leaving Watkins isolated. Van Veen whipped the ball in and Finnish defender Juhani Ojala was on hand to head home the second for Graham Alexander’s men.
The first game after the September international break, the pattern had largely followed the game which preceded it, the 1-1 draw with Ross County at Pittodrie.
Like the Fir Park encounter, Aberdeen had three quarters possession in the game but had not been able to make it count.
It became a familiar theme in the matches which followed, but the tide has turned in the last three matches with the Dons looking much stronger at both ends of the pitch.
Five goals scored, three conceded and seven points accumulated from a possible nine suggests Aberdeen are getting their campaign back on track.
Motherwell, in contrast, head for Pittodrie with one point from their five matches in October. They are also reeling from being on the receiving end of a 6-1 demolition by Premiership champions Rangers in front of their own fans on Sunday.
The change in form of the two sides means they are now locked together in mid-table on 15 points.
With the final international break of 2021 following this weekend’s league action, the Dons will be looking to continue their resurgence by going into it by cementing their place in the top half of the table.