New Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin insists his squad has the quality to challenge for a European place this season.
The Irishman officially took charge of the Dons on Saturday morning and guided his new team to a 1-1 draw at Motherwell hours later.
The point keeps Aberdeen in eighth place in the Premiership, three points behind fourth-placed Hibernian with 11 games of the season remaining.
Goodwin will look to add to his squad in the summer but he insists there cause for optimism the Dons can finish this season on a high.
The new Aberdeen boss said: “We have a bit of work to do on the recruitment side of things in the summer but we have to finish this season out the best we can with the group we have available.
“My mindset going forward is a very positive one. I have not inherited a team languishing at the bottom of the table.
“We are within touching distance of the teams in fourth and fifth.
“Three points against Motherwell would have made all the difference and we would have gone level with them. It wasn’t to be though.
“I have inherited a very good squad of players. We have good energy in there with the young lads and we have some good, experienced players.”
Chance to manage Aberdeen was an opportunity Goodwin could not turn down
Goodwin’s move to Pittodrie came after St Mirren gave the Dons permission to speak to the 40 year-old on Friday.
The 40 year-old leaves Paisley with happy memories following spells as captain and manager at Saints but insists the chance to manage Aberdeen was an opportunity he could not turn down.
He said: “Everyone knows the affiliation I have got with St Mirren and the love for the club.
“I’m not going to patronise St Mirren fans and the board of directors, or anybody there.
“I have always been very open and honest.
“Even when I took the job in one of my very first interviews I did about my ambitions as a person.
“St Mirren have been brilliant to me.
“I had eight years there as a player and a manager. It is the longest I have served any club in my career.”
Leaving St Mirren was not an easy decision
It took the Dons less than 24 hours to convince Goodwin to swap Paisley for Pittodrie.
The change may have happened quickly for the new manager, who has been joined at Aberdeen by his Saints assistant Lee Sharp, but Goodwin says the decision to leave at this stage of the season was not one he made lightly.
He said: “I leave with a heavy heart, there is no doubt about it. It wasn’t straight forward.
The timing could have been better and in an ideal world I’d finish the season with St Mirren and then this opportunity comes up in the summer.
“That would be a lot easier.
“However the fact of the matter is the Aberdeen job became available now and they wanted to speak to me.
“They offered me the job and for me at this stage in my career it was far too big an opportunity to turn down.
“I’m pretty sure most people in the game will understand the rationale behind my decision making.
“I never wanted to unsettle St Mirren but that is the job we are in and the industry we are in unfortunately.”
