Aberdeen have every reason to be confident of getting a result to really reignite their European hopes when Hearts visit Pittodrie this weekend.
It seems a fanciful notion to suggest the Dons should be relishing the visit of the Jambos, given they shipped five to Robbie Neilson’s side when the sides last met.
But the tale of the tape between these two makes for interesting reading.
Tynecastle has not been a happy hunting ground for the Dons, who have won only twice in their last 10 visits to Hearts in the league.
However, the 5-0 mauling in January was the first time Hearts had scored more than two goals against the Dons in any of those 10 Edinburgh meetings in the Premiership.
With an aggregate score of 16-7 from their 10 home matches, the Jambos have clearly held the upper hand on home turf.
But it has been a very different story at Pittodrie.
Dons boast impressive home record against the Jam Tarts
You have to go back to May 12 2016 for the last win for the Jam Tarts in the Granite City and that was Hearts’ only victory in their last 10 trips north.
Goals from Duk and Vicente Besuijen gave Aberdeen a 2-0 win in October.
The Dons are going for their seventh straight home win against the men from Gorgie on Saturday as they bid to close the gap on the third-placed Jambos to four points.
With an aggregate score of 15-5 in Aberdeen’s favour from the last 10 home games against Hearts, it is not hard to see why the Red Army are in confident mood for this one.
It does not mean there are no lessons to be learned from that miserable trip to the capital two months ago, however.
Have Aberdeen recovered from their Tynecastle torment?
Aberdeen were bullied into submission on their last visit to Tynecastle.
All the plaudits from a commendable losing effort to Rangers in the League Cup semi-final at Hampden a few days earlier evaporated in the space of 45 wretched minutes.
The Dons found themselves 4-0 down by half-time. An own-goal from Graeme Shinnie and goals from Michael Smith, Lawrence Shankland and Josh Ginnelly left the Dons reeling, before Cammy Devlin added a fifth in the second half.
Missing the injured Kelle Roos and the suspended Anthony Stewart, Aberdeen’s backline was torn to shreds by a ruthless Hearts side to the extent leaving Tynecastle having only conceded five times was a relief.
Goodwin was defiant post-match as he called for reaction.
He said: “The talking needs to be done on the pitch. We can do all the analysis that we do; Hearts haven’t surprised us tonight.
“I don’t really know how I’m standing here after a 5-0 defeat. We didn’t defend well enough, that’s the bottom line. We got into good areas going forward, but no one wants to hear that.”
The reaction Goodwin craved did not come as the morale-crushing defeat sent Aberdeen’s campaign into a tailspin.
The fallout from that abject display continued with Goodwin’s side going on to exit the Scottish Cup at Darvel five days later before the manager took charge one last time in a 6-0 losing effort back in Edinburgh to Hibernian.
Robson leading Reds recovery
As low points go, those 10 days were as bad as it gets for the club, but there have been green shoots of recovery.
From a run of one win in 10 matches since the World Cup break under Goodwin, interim boss Barry Robson has guided the team to three wins from his five games in charge.
A fourth victory on Saturday will mean the gap which stood at 10 points in February will be narrowed to four with nine games remaining.
A win may be enough to take the Dons back into the European places, too, with fourth-placed Hibernian facing a difficult trip to Glasgow to face champions and league leaders Celtic.
Clearly it is a big weekend from an Aberdeen point of view, but it will also be a significant one for Neilson’s side as well.
They know if they can end their wait for a win at Pittodrie they can take a significant step towards their goal of securing third place for the second year in a row.
For Aberdeen, every game is crucial as they try to claw their way back into European contention.
But it is hard to shake the feeling this weekend carries added significance.
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