Aberdeen manager Stephen Glass believes the next week can turn the club’s season around.
The Dons have dropped to ninth place in the Scottish Premiership following Wednesday’s 3-2 defeat by Celtic at Pittodrie.
With the club drifting down the table the Dons need to stop the rot and Glass believes they have the ideal chance to do that when they travel to Motherwell in the Scottish Cup on Saturday.
A place in the last eight is at stake while the Dons can move up to sixth place if they beat St Johnstone in their game in hand on Tuesday.
Another victory at Fir Park in the league next weekend would take the club above fifth-placed Well and possibly up to fourth depending on results and Glass insists his focus is firmly on the next three matches.
He said: “We have a big week coming, two games away at Motherwell and St Johnstone at home in between.
“If we can take care of those games, we won’t be far away from where we should be, despite the disappointments that we’ve had, and I think the group are ready to do that.”
Second half display offers encouragement
Despite losing to the Hoops at Pittodrie on Wednesday Glass believes his side can take positives from their second half display against Ange Postecoglou’s side.
Aberdeen rallied from being 2-0 behind at the interval to level the game only to concede a contentious goal thanks to Jota’s second of the game.
Glass said: “I’m proud of the players and I know they are going to give the same on Saturday. If we start like that from minute one we will win the game.
“When you come away with no points it is disappointing but I think there was something to build on for Saturday from the second half performance.
“We didn’t lay a glove on Celtic in the first half but we made some changes which helped.
“The energy felt a little bit different and we got the rewards in terms of goals and pressure, but it is the points we wanted obviously.
“We’re sitting at half time against the best team in the country who are 2-0 up. Lesser teams get pummelled in the second half but the players showed a real response.
“I’m really disappointed we gave away a third goal so quickly regardless of how it came about but we kept pushing right to the end.”
Glass looking for a 90 minute display at Fir Park
Glass was pleased by the pride shown by his side following a poor first half performance and while he believes there are positives to be taken from the second 45 minutes he knows his side needs to start producing 90 minute displays.
He said: “The fight and the belief we showed in those 45 minutes was encouraging.
“We showed we could handle ourselves in a game that could have got out of hand so those are plusses we take into Saturday.
“But the bottom line is all we can control is our performance levels. First half, we didn’t get close enough to them.
“We need to be better performance wise for a full 90 minutes, not parts of games.”
One player who staked a claim to be involved in Saturday’s Scottish Cup tie is Matty Kennedy.
The winger, who missed the first half of the campaign with a back injury, made an impressive contribution after coming on at the interval and Glass was pleased to see him back in action.
He said: “Matty was excellent. Last weekend was the first we’d seen of him all season so for him to come in and put in a shift like that was excellent.
“He might feel the effects of it but it will do him good in the long run. A fit and firing Matty Kennedy is a help to any team.”
