Boss Jim Goodwin has challenged Aberdeen to keep the pressure on at the top end of the Premiership table.
Unbeaten in three Premiership matches, Aberdeen sit third in the table ahead of a trip to Hibs on Saturday.
The Reds’ scheduled home clash against struggling Rangers last Saturday was postponed following the passing of the Queen.
All fixtures across Scotland were cancelled as a mark of respect.
Had Aberdeen defeated troubled Rangers they would have leap-frogged the Ibrox club into second place in the Premiership.
Rangers had lost two successive games 4-0 to Celtic and Ajax in the build-up to the postponed game with the Dons.
Goodwin would have preferred for the Gers clash to go ahead as the Reds were in good form.
Now he has urged the Dons to bounce back from the frustration of that postponement by taking three points at Easter Road.
He said: “When you are playing well as we were then you don’t want any kind of a break.
“You want to try to maintain that momentum.
“For the guys involved in European football it is a hectic schedule and you could argue that they would have been satisfied with a weekend off.
“But for ourselves we wanted the games to go ahead and we were disappointed because of the good form that we were in.
“I think we are all delighted that football is back up and running this weekend.
“We have had a good week training and the guys are in a good place so we are looking forward to a big game now against a decent Hibs team.
“We have got to go there and be confident in the way we are playing at the moment.
“And have a good, positive approach to the game.”
No better time to play Rangers?
There was a perception amongst many Aberdeen supporters that there would never be a better time to play Rangers.
Aberdeen had not beaten Rangers at Pittodrie since September 2016.
However, the Ibrox club were rocked 4-0 by rivals Celtic in the Premiership.
Then in their next game, they were humbled by the same scoreline in Amsterdam by Ajax in the Champions League.
Rangers lost 3-0 at home to Napoli on Wednesday in Europe.
Asked if Rangers received a reprieve with the Pittodrie postponement, Goodwin said: “I don’t know about that.
“They weren’t in great form going into the game last weekend and we had been playing quite well.
“So we were quite confident and optimistic.
“However I would have to say that their performance on Wednesday night against a really strong Napoli side was very good.
“At 11 v 11, I thought they held their own.”
No indication of rescheduled date
There has yet to be any confirmation of when the postponed game against Rangers will be played.
Rangers have Champions League commitments and the Premiership also shuts down for five weeks from mid-November for the World Cup.
Goodwin said: “We have not been given any guidance on what to expect on that one.
“It will be difficult for the guys organising that because of the fixtures Rangers have in Europe.
“There is international duty too so it will be difficult to squeeze it in.
“We will have to wait and see.”
Bounce game instead of ‘Gers clash
Goodwin revealed the Dons made the most of the free weekend by playing a bounce game.
He insists it also gave players with niggling injuries extra time to recover.
Goodwin said: “We trained on Saturday and had an 11 v 11 game ourselves which was good.
“There was some decent quality in it.
“On one hand we would have liked the (Rangers) game to go ahead.
“But on the other hand, we had a couple of players with little niggles and knocks.
“The break has not done them any harm.
“The guys had a bit of downtime and went for a bit of dinner but there was nothing major.
“We tried to treat it as we would any other weekend.
“They had Sunday off and were back on Monday.”
Barron and Roberts both ruled out
Aberdeen are unbeaten in four games in all competitions ahead of the trip to Hibs.
Goodwin will be without on-loan Liverpool midfielder Leighton Clarkson who will serve the first of a two-game ban.
Clarkson accepted a retrospective two-game ban last week for a challenge on Ross County’s Callum Johnson in a 1-1 draw.
The midfielder was initially yellow-carded in the game.
Scotland U21 international midfielder Connor Barron is also ruled out of the trip to Hibs.
Barron has yet to feature this campaign having suffered a knee injury during a pre-season friendly.
Midfielder Barron resumed running this week, a vital step in his rehabilitation.
However, Goodwin confirmed it will be next month before he begins full training.
Summer signing Roberts has been sidelined since suffering a hamstring injury in only his second Aberdeen appearance.
Goodwin said: “Leighton Clarkson is suspended, unfortunately.
“Connor Barron and Callum Roberts still remain out.
“Connor is back running now but I imagine it will be the start of October before we have him fully training with the squad.”
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