Aberdeen manager Barry Robson believes his players are having to learn on the job after the Dons sluggish start to the Premiership campaign continued with a 2-0 defeat at home by Hibernian.
Goals from Adam Le Fondre and Christian Doidge gave the managerless Hibees their first win of the season at the expense of the Dons who slip to 11th in the league with two points from their opening four matches.
The Aberdeen fans booed their team off at the end of a poor showing but after bringing in 13 new players this summer Robson has urged the support to be patient.
He said: “I understand the fans want to win every game but we need a bit of patience.
“We’ll get better game by game. We’re in Europe and we need to accept that. The other teams we’re going to face, most of them aren’t, but we will be alright.
“You’ve seen glimpses of what we can do against Hacken and Celtic where we were outstanding. The other games have caught us out.
“I’ve heard everyone speak about Rangers starting a new rebuild.
“I’ve not heard anybody say we had eight loan players and I’ve had to start a whole new squad. We need time to get going as a team and we need to do it on the job.”
International break will help Aberdeen
The Dons boss recognised the frustration among the home support following the team’s poor display but is hoping he can make the use of the upcoming pause in club action.
The turnover of players this summer means Robson has not been able to field a settled side but the manager hopes the international break will afford him a much-needed opportunity to bring his squad tougher.
He said: “It was Richard Jensen’s second game, Jamie McGrath’s second game and he still looks tired, big Pape Habib Gueye’s first appearance.
“The goals we lost were avoidable but nobody is going to feel sorry for us.
“We’ve got two weeks and we’ve got seven or eight lads away on international duty but we’ll work with the boys who are here.”
Dons wilted in the Pittodrie heat
The Dons looked lethargic following their exploits in their Europa League play-off defeat by Hacken on Thursday and Robson believes a combination of fatigue and the unusually hot Pittodrie conditions affected his side.
He said: “We’re on a bit of a learning curve with the European stuff and you can see that. We tried to freshen it up a lot today and get more legs in the team.
“The distance we covered in the game on Thursday then playing in that heat today caught up with us but Hibs were the same and they managed it a bit better than we did.
“It’s frustrating when you have 26 shots on goal on Thursday then watch at times today and see us struggling to get there.
“You’ve got to be patient and work the ball a bit more and we didn’t do that to our best.
“There were players on the pitch who we wanted to take off but we weren’t in a position to do that.
“It was a difficult day for us and we are honest enough to know we need to be better. I know that and the fans know that.
“I knew the game would turn out the way it would due to the two teams playing in Europe and then the heat. But Hibs showed that bit of quality.”
Injury for Morris
Shayden Morris, who came on at half-time for Slobodan Rubezic, had to be replaced due to injury and Robson hopes the wing back is not set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
The Dons boss said: “You could see the change Shayden made was going to make a big difference but then he suffered a hamstring injury.
“He’s a young player who is learning to go again with the demands we put on him.
“Hopefully he won’t be out too long.”
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