Aberdeen forward Niall McGinn believes his club is hitting form at just the right time as it embarks on a testing month of games in the Scottish Premiership.
The Dons moved up to fourth in the division after a comfortable 3-0 win against Hamilton Accies at Pittodrie on Saturday and they have the chance to continue their progress when they face Dundee United at Tannadice this weekend.
McGinn, who scored the second goal in the win against the Accies, insists his side is ready for its Tannadice test.
He said: “I’m delighted to get back on the scoresheet but the important thing for us was to bounce back from last week and it sets us up nicely for the trip to Dundee United.
“The next couple of months are going to determine our season.
“We have important games coming up but we are looking forward to them.
“We want to do the same again this season by winning a cup and improving in the league and consistency will be the key to doing that.
“We will have a good travelling support down to get behind us.
“United like to play on the counter-attack so it is set up to be an intriguing game, hopefully we can come away with the three points.”
The Dons laboured in the opening 20 minutes before finding their form to beat a poor Accies side and having moved to within striking distance of second place McGinn is eager to see his club grasp the opportunity.
Following Saturday’s game at Tannadice the Dons face Kilmarnock and Caley Thistle before the end of the year.
McGinn said: “We’re on the right road now and we want to keep winning games and see where it takes us.
“Second place is anybody’s and we have as good a chance as any of taking it.
“We’ve been chipping in with goals all across the front four and if we can keep adding goals from set-pieces it will take the pressure off the attackers.
“The first half was very scrappy against Hamilton, but we got the breakthrough with Ash Taylor’s goal and then came out strong in the second half.
“We knew Hamilton would be hard to play against so we are delighted to score three goals and get the win.
“We showed both sides of our game by defending well in the first half and then taking our chances in the second half. We’re creating chances right through the team – it’s encouraging.”