Aberdeen boss Jim Goodwin has challenged Lewis Ferguson to boss games in the fight for the top six.
Midfielder Ferguson made a first start for Scotland on Tuesday in the 2-2 friendly draw with Austria.
Ferguson, earning a third cap, played for 77 minutes in Vienna.
The 22-year-old joined the Scotland squad on a high having netted two penalties in the 3-1 defeat of Hibs prior to the international break.
That spot-kick double took Ferguson’s goal tally to 14 for the season.
Despite the goal count Goodwin reckons Ferguson’s influence has been reduced this season by playing too high up the pitch.
In response the Dons gaffer moved Ferguson into a deeper role against Hibs and was rewarded with an influential shift.
Italian side Cagliari sent two representatives to watch Ferguson in action against Hibs.
They were impressed and the Dons have been primed to expect a £3.5m bid from the Serie A club in the summer.
Goodwin reckons Ferguson’s performance in the deeper role was one of his best for a ‘long, long time’.
He wants more of the same from Scotland cap in the games against Dundee and Ross County before the Premiership split.
With Aberdeen in 10th spot both fixtures are must wins in the bid to reach the top six.
Goodwin said: “I have asked Lewis to play a little bit deeper, a little bit flatter and run the game for us.
“Apart from scoring two penalties against Hibs his overall performance was one of the best that I have seen him play for a long, long time.
“Lewis touched the ball more in that game in an Aberdeen jersey than he has for a long time.”
Problem isolated whilst at St Mirren
Former St Mirren boss Goodwin was appointed new Aberdeen manager on a two-and-a-half year contract in February.
During his time with the Buddies he noticed Ferguson was less effective when higher up the pitch.
He has quickly moved to fix that to maximize the midfielder’s impact.
Goodwin said: “I felt when we played against Aberdeen that Lewis was often too high and too far ahead of the ball.
“He didn’t get on the ball enough.
“So I asked him to play a little bit deeper.
“He did that for us against Hibs.”
Dire away form must end in Dundee
Aberdeen’s top six aspirations will hinge on ending a woeful away Premiership record when they travel to Dundee on Saturday.
The Reds have won just twice on the road in the Premiership this season.
Only bottom side Dundee have a poorer record than the Reds away from home.
Aberdeen have taken 10 points from 16 away games.
🧊 As cool as you like from @lewisferguson7.
👊🏽 The passion from @connorbarron8_.
COYR! #StandFree pic.twitter.com/5zcxcJgjtn
— Aberdeen FC (@AberdeenFC) March 20, 2022
Dundee have registered nine points from 15 matches on the road.
The Reds will however travel to Tayside with confidence high after Goodwin secured a first win as manager at the fifth attempt.
Defeating Hibs also delivered a Dons’ first win in the Premiership since December 26.
Goodwin confident of improvement
Goodwin praised every Aberdeen player for an ‘excellent’ shift in defeating Hibs.
As the season enters the business end he is confident the Dons will continue to improve.
The international break afforded Goodwin more time to work on that improvement on the training ground.
Goodwin aims to see that work pay off at Dens Park on Saturday.
Goodwin said: “I thought the boys all the way throughout the whole team were excellent against Hibs.
“There weren’t really any below par performances.
“However we can still improve, we can still get better.
“We will continue to work on that on the training ground.
“People might make a big deal that Hibs went down to 10 men.
“Yet if anyone looks at the stats in the first 45 minutes when it was 11 v 11 we were in complete control of the game.
“We dominated possession.
“The analyst told me there we had about 150 more passes than Hibs.
“And they been given great plaudits in recent months about how they are a possession based team.”
