Boss Jim Goodwin insists Aberdeen’s dramatic injury time collapse against Rangers is his worst experience as a manager.
Aberdeen were 2-1 ahead in the fifth minute of injury time and on course for a first Pittodrie win against Rangers since 2016.
However a last gasp Scott Arfield double condemned the Dons to a dramatic defeat that Goodwin says left him and his players “in a lot of pain”.
Shell-shocked Goodwin insists it felt worse than losing the Championship play-off final as Alloa Athletic manager in a penalty shoot-out to Brechin City in 2017.
The Dons gaffer endured a long, sleepless night on Tuesday in search of an answer to what went wrong in the final minutes against Rangers.
There was much “soul searching” and analysis after throwing away three points.
Goodwin insists there is no “blame game” culture within Pittodrie and the Dons “win and lose together”.
And the Reds boss is confident his side can shrug off their pain to bounce back at St Mirren on Christmas Eve.
He said: “That is the hardest thing I have had to deal with, certainly as a manager.
“I missed out on getting promoted in my first season with Alloa in a penalty shootout in the play-off final.
“What I felt after the game on Tuesday was worse, I believe, than what I felt that night.
“Everybody was in a lot of f****** pain, to be honest, excuse my language.
“We were 2-1 up in the 95th minute.
“Everybody has been hurting on the back of the game on Tuesday, where we put a hell of a lot into it and played well in the course of the game.
“We had it there in the palm of our hand and unfortunately we threw it away.
“It took a little bit of soul-searching.
“But I’m glad to say the boys trained on Thursday morning and they were right back at it, determined to put things right on Saturday.”
A long night for Goodwin after loss
Aberdeen were floored by two last-gasp goals from Rangers in the 95th and 97th minutes.
In the immediate aftermath of the game, at the post match press conference, Goodwin admitted he found it hard to find an explanation for what happened.
The search continued long into the night.
He said: “I never tend to sleep after evening games.
“It was a long night with a lot of reflection and a lot of things to take in.
“It is not just the players – the first person I look at is me.
“We are all in it together and we do have a culture here where there is no blame game.
“We win and lose together.”
‘It is extremely difficult to take but we can’t dwell on it’
The Dons’ injury time disintegration on Tuesday came just three days after they were criticised in a 1-0 defeat to Celtic at Pittodrie.
Goodwin received flak for defensive tactics that restricted the Dons to just two shots, both off target, with Celtic mustering 33 efforts at goal.
What did Goodwin say to his squad to lift them up for this weekend’s trip to his former club St Mirren?
He said: “It took a little bit of regrouping.
“Where we have come together and tried to look at the positives on the night.
“I know that is easy to say and there aren’t many people who want to hear that but there were a lot of positives.
“We played really well at times.
“And in the second half, in particular, we had Rangers pinned back and deservedly went in front.
“They are a very honest group and accept they could have done better for those last couple of goals.
“We should have defended those situations better but we came undone.
“It is extremely difficult to take but we can’t dwell on it.
“We look forward to Saturday, which is the most important thing.
“We have an opportunity on Saturday to put three points on the board and retain third place in the table, where we are sitting just now.”
A ‘valuable learning process’
Aberdeen’s capacity to end a winless run against Rangers that is now at 10 games will be tested at the national stadium next month.
The Dons face the Ibrox club in the League Cup semi-final on Sunday, January 15.
Rather than be damaged by the shock of the late capitulation on Tuesday, Goodwin reckons his side can take confidence.
He said: “In the game on Tuesday night we showed that we are a match for Rangers in certain areas.
“The biggest thing we can do is take confidence from the overall performance, if not the result.
“Our supporters will have been hurting as much as we were after the game because it would have been a memorable evening had we held on and taken all three points.
“We have got Rangers again in January in the semi-final of the cup.
“I think we will take a lot of positives from Tuesday of what we are capable of doing.
“But of course we will also take some valuable learning from it as well.”
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