Aberdeen Women co-manager Gavin Beith hopes to bag an important SWPL 1 win against his former side Dundee United at Tannadice on Sunday.
The Dons face United for the first time this season, which will also be the first time that Beith has faced his former club in a competitive match since leaving last summer.
Beith was appointed Dundee United boss when the club’s women’s team was established back in 2015 and led them to two league titles and a cup victory.
He left the club in 2021 after six years in charge and returns to United with his full focus on guiding Aberdeen to their second win of the SWPL 1 season.
The Aberdeen co-boss said: “I’ve got a lot of good memories from my time at Dundee United, but my full focus is on the club I’m at now.
“It’s nice it’s at Tannadice. I’ve had good times there before, so hopefully I can go back there and have even more good times, but now with Aberdeen.
“We can’t get away from the fact that we desperately need a win, so it does feel like a must-win game. Hopefully we can go there and get an important three points.”
Belief will be key to victory
Aberdeen travel to Tannadice where a win against Dundee United would still leave them sitting second bottom of the top flight.
The Reds travel to face Graeme Hart’s side off the back of a 4-1 defeat to Motherwell.
A victory in Dundee would help the Dons move closer to the teams above them – Hamilton Accies and Spartans both sit on nine points, compared to Aberdeen’s four.
But to get three points, Beith has urged his side to have more belief in themselves.
He explained: “It’s 100% about having that belief. We see them at training where they give us everything and do what you need them to do.
“It’s just when the going gets tough – they need to believe in themselves and have the confidence to go and express themselves.
“Difficult moments do bring pressure – like in any walk of life – but the key thing is to stand up and deal with that pressure.
“It’s a tough thing to do and although a lot of these players are young, they are also vastly experienced, so they need to try and use that to their advantage.
“This is a spell that’s prolonged and we’re in a place that we never thought we would be in – and it’s a place that we don’t want to be in.
“But it’s where we are – that’s the size of it – so we need to work really hard to get ourselves out of it.”
Stadium experience advantageous
The Aberdeen co-manager reckons that playing at Tannadice should benefit his side, who have played several top-flight games on grass pitches recently.
The Dons have played at Pittodrie twice already this year, as well as at Rangers’ Ibrox and Peterhead’s Balmoor Stadium.
Beith said: “Playing games at any stadium – like Tannadice or Pittodrie – gives you a massive boost with it being on grass and hopefully a decent crowd, too.
“We’ve played well on grass recently and then just playing at the stadium adds to the whole occasion, which just helps elevate the performance.
“Hopefully some of our fans will come down and cheer us on. It’s cheering us on, but more importantly it’s adding a big gate to the women’s game.
“If there was a couple thousand who come along to Tannadice, it shows the weight of the women’s game and the positive direction it’s going in.”
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