Aberdeen star Sivert Nilsen will go into the Hibs game sporting a black eye because of his son.
The battle-hardened midfielder confirmed he had been in the wars before a ball is kicked at Pittodrie this weekend. The Norwegian clashed heads with his boy, Bo, in an accidental collision. Nilsen explained: “It’s a crazy story actually and I don’t know if you’ll believe me. But I was sitting on my sofa with my son yesterday with him in front of me.
“He just suddenly jumped backwards and hit me and actually it blew up. So of course everyone here has been saying that it was really my wife. But I can assure you that it was my son as he’s a crazy guy just like me.”
Aberdeen had no game last weekend and it has given Thelin the last two weeks to work on things with his squad on the training ground. He is looking to get back to winning ways after five matches without victory.
Thelin said: “The coaching staff has done a really job in analysing what was missing, especially in the St Johnstone game. It was really slow and we couldn’t find the solutions. We can now bring our game up to speed. I think we will see the results tomorrow.”
Aberdeen have already played Hibs in this recent run. They drew 3-3 at Easter Road last month.
The Reds went into stoppage time 2-1 up. Chris Cadden levelled, Ester Sokler then netted an overhead kick but Rocky Bushiri levelled in the 96th minute. Nilsen admitted that the draw felt like a defeat but on reflection was, probably, a fair result.
The midfielder acknowledged: “It was quite an equal game away. We had periods where we were good but we also had periods where we struggled.
“In the end, it was probably a fair result when you see the match overall. Hopefully, tomorrow we can put on a performance that deserves the win. There were some spaces and they changed their formation against us.
“That was the first time they had played with a back five. Let’s see how they come tomorrow. They have some individual qualities that have been good and we have to be aware of their players.
“Our expectation is to be the best team and to dominate. We will be looking to go forward quickly.”
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