Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin will go back to the drawing board with his squad this summer following yet another heavy defeat by Celtic.
The Dons’ hopes of finishing third were extinguished in ruthless fashion by the champions at Pittodrie on Wednesday as the visitors inflicted the heaviest home defeat on the Dons this season following a 5-1 win.
Aberdeen’s pulsating 2-2 draw at Celtic Park on October 19 seems a distant memory for Thelin and his players with the season aggregate now standing at 19-4 in five meetings.
With the Dons having lost both their trips to Rangers by an aggregate of 7-0 Thelin knows a lot of work will be needed if the Dons hope to get closer to the Glasgow giants.
He said: “We have a journey to do to close the gap to the other teams and that’s what we have to focus on in the summer.
“I believe in training and hard work and that’s what we need to do.
“When you train as a team, as an individual player, you grow and you get better, that’s the only way because right now they are better, it’s obvious in the league, so we have to get better in the future.
“We have to work really, really hard now in the summer to be better next season.”
Dons boss wants fourth place finish
Thelin may have one eye on the summer but the Dons boss insists his focus remains very much on the two vital remaining games of the season.
Aberdeen head to Tannadice on Saturday knowing they will finish fourth if they avoid defeat by Dundee United before they head to Hampden for a Scottish Cup final rematch with Celtic.
The Dons boss is disappointed his side cannot catch Hibernian for third place but believes a fourth place finish would be satisfactory.
He said: “It’s my responsibility to push this through now to the last games.
“Dundee United is still a strong opponent but it’s a different kind of game that we need to manage in a different way and believe in ourselves.
“Then we have to think how we can do better in the final.
“If we finish fourth in the league, we have pushed hard this season and done a lot of good things, we have to arrive fourth then it’s okay.
“We had the goal to arrive third, it’s impossible right now so now we have to focus on the fourth position.”
Positive outcome at Tannadice must be the priority
Finding a gameplan to give the Dons a chance of bringing the Scottish Cup back to Pittodrie for the first time in 35 years is also looming large for Thelin.
The Dons boss said: “As a manager we have to think now of what we can do together with our players to do better.
“Next time we play against Celtic in two weeks, but first of all we have to put our focus now to the next game against United.
“It’s an important game for Europe and we have to focus on the next coming game, the last league game, and try to get the result we arrived for, to put ourselves in a better position for Europe.
“Then we have one week to recover and put all our energy into the final and try to find a way to give us an opportunity to perform and get a good result in the final.”
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