Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin insists it will be his responsibility if the Dons fail to make the top six of the Scottish Premiership.
The side are four points adrift of the top half of the table with three games remaining before the split.
Goodwin has been in charge for the last four games – which have yielded two points – after replacing Stephen Glass last month and the former St Mirren manager is happy to carry the burden reach fail to finish in the top half of the table.
He said: “There has been a lot of work done on the training pitch to get my ideas across and it is now very much my way of doing things. That’s why I will take full responsibility.
“You can’t keep passing the buck and blaming the past manager.
“It’s on me now going forward and we need to win these three games. We won’t be shying away from it.
“Coming in at the time (I did), I knew it was difficult, but now, four weeks in, we’ve had plenty of time to get our ideas across to the players and give them a good understanding of what we are asking them to do.”
Recent displays give cause for optimism at Pittodrie
Aberdeen’s search for a league win in 2022 continues when Hibernian visit Pittodrie tomorrow, but Goodwin insists there is cause for optimism following the team’s recent displays.
He said: “In the four games, we’ve had decent performances.
“We had a really bad one against Hearts, but we could have won at Motherwell. We had the ball in the net and it was chalked off wrongly.
“We had so many good opportunities against Dundee United at home, and we put in a decent performance for 65 minutes at Ibrox, where we restricted Rangers to two shots on target.
“I don’t think many teams will have done that this season, especially at Ibrox. It could have been so different in the games I’ve been in charge of, but it has been quite hectic.”
Goodwin not giving up hope of Europe
The immediate task is to ensure the Dons are in the top six after the next three matches, but the aim by the end of the campaign is to claim fourth place and with it qualification for European football for a ninth year in a row.
The Aberdeen manager believes it will take a maximum return from the remaining three games to ensure the Dons are in the hunt for Europe after the split next month.
He said: “We’ve got three huge games coming up and it all starts on Saturday against Hibs. They are all cup finals and we need to win all of them.
“I think it is going to take three wins to get us to where we want to be. It might not be enough, but we have to believe it will be.
“Some people are suggesting two wins and a draw might be enough, but I think we have to go all out and try to get three wins and see where it takes us.
“It will be tough on Saturday as Hibs are a good side and they scored two good goals against Motherwell at the weekend.
“We know how they will approach the game, so we have to impose ourselves on them. The team has had a decent record against them this season to be fair.”
