Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Aberdeen midfielder Ante Palaversa addresses troubled away form ahead of trip to Ibrox

Aberdeen have won only two of the last 16 Premiership away games - and face trips to Rangers and Dundee United as the battle to finish third hits make or break.

Midfielder Ante Palaversa at Cormack Park.
Midfielder Ante Palaversa at Cormack Park. Image by SNS

Midfielder Ante Palaversa has warned Aberdeen must fix their away day woes to keep alive the bid to finish third in the Premiership.

The Dons have struggled away from Pittodrie this season and have won just two of the last 16 Premiership matches on the road.

With two of the remaining three league fixtures away from home, Palaversa accepts that dismal form must end.

Aberdeen midfielder Ante Palaversa in action the 4-1 Premiership win against Motherwell at Pittodrie.
Aberdeen midfielder Ante Palaversa in action the 4-1 Premiership win against Motherwell at Pittodrie. Image: SNS.

Aberdeen face Rangers away on Sunday before a home clash against Celtic on Wednesday.

The Premiership campaign ends with a trip to Dundee United next weekend.

Finding solutions to poor away form

Croatian midfielder Palaversa revealed boss Jimmy Thelin and his team have worked on ways to find a solution to their travel sickness.

Aberdeen's Ante Palaversa (L) and Motherwell's Lennon Miller in action during the 4-1 win at Pittodrie.
Aberdeen’s Ante Palaversa (L) and Motherwell’s Lennon Miller in action during the 4-1 win at Pittodrie. Image: SNS.

The 25-year-old said: “It is important that we improve our away form.

“We haven’t won a lot of away games so we have to change that.

“We have to change that mentality as a team and go to win away games like we’re winning the home games.”

Aberdeen suffered another away setback when losing 1-0 to St Mirren last weekend.

Drive to be more clinical on the road

The Reds failed to muster a single shot in a defeat that delivered a hammer blow to hopes of finishing third in the Premiership.

Third-placed Hibs are three points ahead of the Dons.

St Mirren's Mikael Mandron scores in a 1-0 win against Aberdeen in Paisley.
St Mirren’s Mikael Mandron scores in a 1-0 win against Aberdeen in Paisley. Image: Shutterstock.

Asked if Aberdeen need to be more clinical away from home, Palaversa said: “Yes, I will take that point for away games.

“So, even if you play badly in an away game,  you still have two or three really good chances to score,

“I think you have to be clinical and you have to score even if you have a bad game.

“In the remaining games, we have to be sharp, give everything and not give anything away.”

Sunday’s clash at Ibrox is a showdown between a team struggling to win on the road against a team who cannot win at home.

Silencing the ‘hostile’ Rangers crowd

Rangers are in the midst of a seven-game winless run in all competitions at Ibrox.

Former Manchester City midfielder Palaversa expect a hostile reception from Rangers fanbase who have not seen their side win at home since early February.

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin during the 1-0 Premiership loss at St Mirren.
Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin during the 1-0 Premiership loss at St Mirren. Image: SNS.

However, he hopes to silence the home crowd early on.

He said: “It can be quite hostile.

“Rangers are at home so it will be a totally different atmosphere from the last time we played them (2-2, Pittodrie in April).

“We have to be on a much higher level than the rest of the games we’ve been playing.

“I think if we can produce some good action in the first couple of minutes, it will be very tough for them.”

Palaversa has forged a strong partnership alongside Leighton Clarkson in recent games in the midfield two of a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Aberdeen were on course for a valuable win against Rangers when leading 2-0 at Pittodrie last month.

Lessons learned from Rangers draw

However, 10-man Rangers fought back to secure a 2-2 draw with the leveller coming in the 96th minute.

Were lessons learned from that setback?

He said: “Yes, to be ready for all 90-and-plus minutes.

“The game is not finished until the referee’s whistle blows.

“We have to be prepared for all kinds of moments in the game.

“It is a mental thing.

“We were disappointed a lot in that game against Rangers because we were really good.

“I think we were better, but football is football.

“You never know what the result is going to be after 90 minutes.

“So we have to be ready again on Sunday, on everything.”

Palaversa initially signed for the Dons last summer on a one-year deal from French club Troyes.

Palaversa’s European action dream

Aberdeen had an option of an additional two years.

The Reds triggered that option in January with the midfielder signing an extension to remain at Pittodrie until the summer of 2027.

Aberdeen midfielder Ante Palaversa at Cormack Park. Image: SNS
Aberdeen midfielder Ante Palaversa at Cormack Park. Image: SNS.

Palaversa is determined to play in Europe with Aberdeen next season.

He said: “Europe means a lot.

“First of all, I want to qualify for Europe for the team.

“And then, for me personally, I want to play in Europe next season.

“We will give everything for that.”

Conversation