Sivert Nilsen reckons Aberdeen have been far too chaotic all season and that cost them in their last mad-cap meeting with Hibs.
The Dons were winning 2-1 at Easter Road going into stoppage time last month but that was only half the story. Nicky Cadden levelled for the Hibees, Ester Sokler netted an overhead kick and then Rocky Bushiri levelled for Hibs in the 96th minute. Nilsen acknowledged the Dons were riding their luck even when they were on their unbeaten run.
Nilsen stated: “Football is really mental and knowing how to react and learn to stay in the game until the final whistle. We have actually been a little bit chaotic near the end of matches when we’ve scored late on. If you see the minutes after that it has been chaotic and other teams nearly scored against us during that time. It nearly happened against Motherwell at Pittodrie as we were all over the place and they nearly scored. It could be a lack of concentration in those moments and we can be more controlled in the future.”
Nilsen admitted the last draw with Hibs felt like a defeat, losing the goal so late on. The 33-year-old admitted: “It was quite tough to take losing that last goal so quickly after taking the lead late that night.
“We were really high after Ester scored then what happened felt like a loss. The manager did a good job afterwards to make sure we focus on the right things.
“We didn’t play a very good match against Hibs and they made a number of good chances to score earlier. To be honest it was a fair result overall but it’s always hard when you lose such a late goal. I’ve had some late losses before in my career so I know you can have these sort of crazy games in football.”
Aberdeen still sit second in the table and were unbeaten until recently. Since then they have gone five games without a win. That has seen defeats to St Mirren and Celtic and draws with Hibs, Hearts and St Johnstone. Nilsen played under Thelin before at Elfsborg and he knows Aberdeen are still far from the finished article.
He still doesn’t think they have delivered that ultimate performance and that is something they are still striving for. Thelin and his players have had the last two weeks to try and work towards this Hibs game. The midfielder insisted: “All of the games have been very close and my personal view is that we have had to fight for every point.
“We want to build on being a dominating team and I don’t think I’ve gone off the field feeling were amazing or fantastic. We have always had periods in matches when the opponents have had momentum and could create something. It’s about the bigger picture and finding a higher level in our play as it’s all about getting better in the future as I want us to be great.”
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