Boss Stephen Glass has challenged Aberdeen to prove valuable lessons have been learnt from the recent loss to Motherwell.
Glass was furious at his defence for switching off for both goals to crash to the Steelmen prior to the international break.
He wants to see an immediate improvement against Dundee United at Tannadice.
That loss to ‘Well stalled a recent revival in form where the Dons had taken seven points from a triple header against Hearts, Hibs and league leaders Rangers.
Glass had two weeks during the international break to work with his squad on eradicating defensive mistakes and sharpening their attacking cutting edge.
Aberdeen had 70% of possession against Motherwell and 18 attempts at goal.
They couldn’t make that domination count in a loss that dropped the Reds back into the Premiership bottom six.
He said: “We had 10 bad minutes in the second half against Motherwell and were punished pretty severely for that.
“The players were disappointed.
“You have to learn your lesson and move on.
“It’s up to us to show that we have.”
Working hard to deliver clean sheets
Aberdeen have secured just two clean sheets in 20 games in all competitions this season – one of those a 2-0 defeat of Dundee United in the opening Premiership match of the season on August 1.
Glass insists they are working hard on the training ground at Cormack Park in the bid to deliver shut-outs.
He said: “We are trying to improve players in the finishing aspect and the defensive aspect. It has been continual.
“It’s an ongoing thing that we are working on.”
As well as allowing Glass time to work on aspects in training without the immediate demands of an imminent game, the international break also allowed the manager and his squad ‘breathing space’ after a hectic run of games.
However, he would rather have been preparing for a match last week in the bid to immediately bounce back from the Motherwell defeat.
He said: “It gives you a bit of mental breathing space, the fact that you’re not preparing for a game.
“Other than that, I’d like to be getting on with the work to be fair.
“There’s a focus on training, but it’s different if there’s a game coming up.
“I think the period of games we had, we had to get our head around pretty quickly in terms of injuries and the level of games we were playing as well.
“I think the opportunity to prepare without being under the gun in terms of time has been good.”
Lewis Ferguson suspended
Scotland international midfielder Lewis Ferguson is suspended for the trip to Tannadice.
Ferguson picked up a yellow card in the loss to Motherwell to push him beyond the points threshold for cautions. The 22-year-old will serve a one-game suspension and will return for next game away to Celtic.
Assessment of season so far
Aberdeen began the Premiership season with what appeared at the time to be a statement of intent in defeating Dundee United 2-0 at Pittodrie.
Much has changed since that Premiership opener as the Dons suffered a 10-game winless streak in all competitions, their worst since 2010.
Aberdeen stopped that slump and began to deliver on that early promise by impressing in a run of games against Hearts (2-1 win), Rangers (2-2) and Hibs (1-0 win).
Dundee United currently sit six points ahead of Aberdeen – and Glass aims to slash that deficit with a win at Tannadice in front of a large travelling Red Army.
He said: “A lot has changed as we’ve played 12 league games since that Dundee United match.
“We’ve had the chance to bed the players in.
“Players are realising now that it’s different as they are playing in front of full stadiums.
“I think we have sold about 3,000 tickets, which is great.
“It feels different in the respect that we are playing in front of packed crowds now, which is brilliant.
“Other than that I think we evaluate it week to week.
“There have been spells where we have played pretty well and not got what we think we deserved.
“Even in the week of Hibs, Hearts, Rangers we felt we should have had nine points.
“We didn’t feel we got what we deserved that week.
“It’s important that we keep the performance level going and continue to get rid of the mistakes at the back and be a bit more clinical at the top.
“In general, the team has looked pretty good throughout that whole spell.”
🚨This week's Northern Goal podcast features former @AberdeenFC boss Alex Smith.
In part 1, Alex explains how…
⚽️Theo Snelders and Hans Gillhaus were signed
⚽️Billy Bremner nearly became his Dons assistantApple: https://t.co/Lf7aEKWOdy
Spotify: https://t.co/Q7ws7gAtj5 pic.twitter.com/XjuY8jrCYp— EveningExpress Sport (@ee_sport) November 19, 2021
