Barry Robson is relishing the prospect of welcoming back three key players as Aberdeen bid to bounce back from their 2-1 defeat at Hearts and seal third place in the cinch Premiership.
The Dons saw their five-point advantage over the fourth-placed Jambos chopped to just two with two games remaining after goals from home forwards Josh Ginnelly and Lawrence Shankland overturned Mattie Pollock’s opener for the visitors.
Aberdeen lost 5-0 on their last visit to Tynecastle under previous boss Jim Goodwin in January and Robson took some solace from the fact this defeat – narrower in scoreline – was suffered without captain Graeme Shinnie, talismanic forward Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes and wing-back Ross McCrorie, all of whom are in line to return for Wednesday’s crucial match at home to St Mirren.
“Compared to last time down here, we’re a totally different team now,” said Robson. “The positive for me is we’ve got Shinnie, Duk and McCrorie all to come back.
“It’s not easy to come down here and play without those players. The other boys that came in did well but they’re your experience, your legs and your goals. That’s what we’ve got to look forward to on Wednesday.”
Aberdeen were 10 points behind Hearts in February and despite losing at Tynecastle on Saturday their bid to secure European group-stage football remains in their own hands.
“It’s different questions to what you were asking me three months ago,” said Robson, trying to accentuate the positives. “10 points we were behind. Now two points ahead with two games to go and three top players to come back.
“I’m alright, I’m looking forward to the game on Wednesday.”
Hearts – who have a superior goal difference to Aberdeen – need to pick up two more points than the Dons over the course of the last two games if they are to finish third.
The Jambos visit Rangers on Wednesday before hosting city rivals Hibs on the last day, while the Dons travel to champions Celtic after playing Saints in midweek.
“I think it is an interesting week now,” said Hearts boss Steven Naismith, who took over from the sacked Robbie Neilson last month.
“This win has clawed us back to much closer to Aberdeen than we were before the game.
“We go into the next week with two games again looking to cause more problems than the teams we come up against and give ourselves a chance.
“That is all we can do. From where the team was sitting (when Naismith took charge), the morale, everything, it was really tough to turn around.
“We have done a really good job of doing that, bringing in an attacking style of football which was pleasing for me.”
Hearts have not won away to Rangers for almost nine years but Naismith is confident they can deliver a strong performance at Ibrox on Wednesday.
“We can go and compete for sure, I really believe that,” he said. “Today gives me a lot of confidence in terms of how we were calm, controlled in our possession.”
Kris Doolan pushed Partick Thistle promotion dream from day one – Kyle Turner
Kyle Turner revealed Kris Doolan targeted cinch Premiership football immediately upon becoming Partick Thistle boss as the Jags stand on the brink of a return to the top flight.
Doolan stepped up from his role as under-18 coach in February to take over, initially on a temporary basis, from Ian McCall and the turnaround in form since has taken the Maryhill side all the way to the play-off final.
The Jags are 2-0 up from Thursday’s first leg against Ross County – the victory extending their unbeaten run to 11 games – with the return game taking place in Dingwall on Sunday.
Thistle are the first team to finish fourth in the second tier to go all the way to the play-off final – during that run Doolan had to cope with the death of his father Lawrence – and they are looking to make more history by completing the job against the Staggies.
Malky Mackay’s side played most of the game in Glasgow with 10 men after 16-year-old defender Dylan Smith was sent off in the first half for denying Aidan Fitzpatrick an obvious goalscoring opportunity and midfielder Turner is hoping Doolan’s ambition is soon fulfilled.
The 25-year-old said: “The gaffer has been brilliant. He has had a hard time in the last few weeks and it has been tough for him.
“But when he came those were his first words, ‘let’s try to get to the Premiership’.
“He constantly goes on about it in the changing room, that we want to be looking up the way and how we want to get there.
“It is the top league in Scotland and he instilled a belief in us that we can do this and so far so good.
“Since the gaffer has come in we have a siege mentality and we keep going to see what happens.
“In five play-off games we have scored 18 goals and conceded three, so the gaffer has installed a belief in us. He wants us to be free and go and play our own game and it has worked so far.
“We were disappointed this season and we should have been challenging in the final games but we slipped up a few times and we weren’t happy with that.
“We finished fourth and we had to play six games in the play-offs. We felt the worst we should have finished was second.
“When we got past Queen’s Park, then the belief started to grow. We know Sunday will be tough and County will throw everything at us so we have to be ready.”
Turner believes the margin of victory over the Staggies, who finished 11th in the Premiership, could have been greater.
The former Stranraer and Dunfermline player said: “I thought we put on a good performance. We were actually disappointed we didn’t score more goals to be honest.
“We had a lot of chances in the second half but County defended well and they threw bodies in front of the ball to make it hard for us.
“If someone had said to us we would win 2-0 then we would have been happy.
“But the way the game went with them down to 10 men, with the chances we created, on another day we would have scored more. But overall though we are delighted with the win.”
Jordan White insists Ross County believe they can still stay in Premiership
Jordan White admits belief is key to Ross County’s quest to claw back a two-goal deficit against Partick Thistle on Sunday as they battle for cinch Premiership survival.
The Staggies lost 2-0 in the first leg of the play-off final at Firhill on Thursday night where they played for the majority of the game with 10 men after 16-year-old defender Dylan Smith was sent off in the 17th minute for denying Aidan Fitzpatrick, who had netted the opener for the Championship side, an obvious goalscoring opportunity.
Veteran Jags striker Brian Graham struck just before half-time with his 21st goal of the season to put Kris Doolan’s side in the box seat for the second leg in Dingwall.
However, Staggies striker White insists the tie is not over yet.
The 31-year-old said: “I don’t think I would have taken 2-0 at any time but under the circumstances I think we did well to come out the way we have.
“The first half isn’t how we wanted it to go but we have another game to put it right.
“The belief in the group is always there and there’s no point turning up thinking you can’t do it as you are on to a loser then. It is only half-time in the tie, that’s all it is.
“Other than the Kilmarnock game (3-1 defeat) I think we have performed pretty well since the split.
“It all comes down to Sunday now and we have to look after ourselves and put in a performance. No one in the dressing room wants a relegation on their CV.
“Partick have had a good night on Thursday but we have to take our medicine and move on.”
White believes home advantage could be “massive” as County look to turn the tie around against a Jags side who are unbeaten in 11 games.
He said: “Partick played well but coming up against 10 men for 75 minutes probably made it a bit easier for them.
“We can’t use it as an excuse but we know what we can do and we are confident going into the game.
“It was disappointing on Thursday but we need the fans behind us and they can be a big help, especially if we get an early goal.”
Hearts and Hibernian given SFA notice of complaint after incident at Tynecastle
Hearts and Hibernian have been served with a notice of complaint by the Scottish Football Association after disorder among their players and staff at the end of last weekend’s fiery Edinburgh derby at Tynecastle.
At full-time, following a clash that ended 1-1, two skirmishes erupted on the pitch, one directly in front of the two technical areas and another just moments afterwards in the centre circle.
Hearts goalkeeping coach Paul Gallacher and substitute shot-stopper Ross Stewart as well as Hibs manager Lee Johnson and unused substitute Rocky Bushiri were all shown red cards for their part in the post-match chaos.
And on Friday it emerged that the two clubs have been charged, alleged to have breached disciplinary rule 204, which states that: “All clubs and recognised football bodies shall procure that its officials, team staff, employees and players conduct themselves in an orderly fashion at all times during and/or after a match.
“In particular, clubs and recognised football bodies are responsible for ensuring that its officials, team staff, employees and players refrain from any one or a combination of the following: (a) becoming involved in a confrontation; b) conduct that is likely to lead to or to exacerbate or prolong a hostile or argumentative situation with players and/or team staff from the opposing team and/or match officials; (c) conduct that may otherwise incite disorder.”
The hearing for both clubs is due to take place on June 29.
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