A pumped-up Pittodrie gives Jimmy Thelin the belief his Aberdeen side can turn the tables and end Celtic’s unbeaten Premiership charge.
The Dons were thumped 6-0 by the Hoops in a sore Premier Sports Cup semi-final clash at Hampden back in November. Thelin is confident it won’t have an impact on his side as his team put their 100 per cent home record on the line in Wednesday’s top of the table clash. The Swede stated: “What happened before doesn’t matter. It will be two different games, so let’s see what we do better in this game.
“That was a big semi-final and Celtic played very well, but this is a different game, we are at home this time. We know what Celtic are good at but we want to focus on what we can do. For us, it’s about being clear what we want to do no matter who we play against and approach the game in that way. Hopefully we can see a big step forward.
“When you go onto a football game you always believe you can win, you have to believe that. You can’t think about what other people think. You always respect the opponent but you always have to believe you can win at Pittodrie.”
Thelin is adamant he isn’t looking for short-term success but one that will make Aberdeen a major force going forward. “Every club has to focus on what they can do and make our belief of what we can do at Aberdeen,” the Swede insisted. “Each club is in a different context so we have to focus on what we can do at Aberdeen.
“I feel like this club is growing step by step every time, we’re trying to be better every day. We want to keep this long-term process because that’s how to keep an identity.
“If you lose one game or draw a game, you have to remember why you started on this journey in the first place. You have to stick to the process, improve and adjust all the time.
“The players experience different things, they are going to grow from the pressure. You have to keep pushing, for us it’s about being consistent in our work over a period of time. So we have to focus on ourselves and don’t think about what other clubs are right now.”
Aberdeen go into the game without the injured Jack MacKenzie and Dimitar Mitov. The goalkeeper tore his hamstring and could be out for up to six weeks. The Aberdeen manager said: “Ross (Doohan) came in and did well for us, he has trained well and we’re confident he will do a good job.
“Dimi has been really good, he’s a really good goalkeeper. We have a squad so you have to find solutions and stay positive.
“Now you have to think about the player, to support them and make sure they are doing well so they are ready to be even better when they come back.”
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