Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes wants his players to bring back the positivity to Pittodrie by beating Partick Thistle on Sunday.
A sense of optimism had enveloped the club after an impressive run of only one defeat in 11 matches, which had helped the Dons reach the semi-finals of the League Cup and earned McInnes the SPFL manager-of-the-month award for September.
However, two ill-deserved defeats by Hearts and Celtic have tempered that feelgood factor. McInnes, however, says this weekend’s trip to Firhill in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup is the perfect opportunity to get back on the right track.
He said: “The draw could have been kinder to us as we have been drawn against a fellow Premiership side away from home and we expect nothing other than a difficult match. We have to make sure we are fully focused and ready. There has been a sense of frustration and disappointment because of the last couple of results but there has also been positives to take from both matches.
“But we want to get back to winning games and we will be doing all we can to get that victory on Sunday.”
The Dons are likely to be without Jonny Hayes, who suffered a hamstring injury in last weekend’s 3-1 defeat by Celtic, but Barry Robson will return from suspension.
McInnes is confident that whoever lines up for the Reds at Firhill on Sunday will be capable of helping the team reach the next stage of the competition.
He said: “We have changed teams at certain stages to deal with different opponents and we will try to pick the right team that is best equipped to get a result for us on Sunday.
“There won’t be any difficulty in getting the players up for the game as we have enough good types in the dressing-room.
“We went to Celtic Park without Willo Flood and Barry Robson but manufactured a midfield to compete against some very good players such as Joe Ledley, Scott Brown, Kris Commons and Charlie Mulgrew. I thought the players deserved a lot of credit for how they played against them.”
Aberdeen’s trip to Kilmarnock on Saturday, January 4, has been delayed 24 hours to the Sunday after Killie moved their match against St Mirren on New Year’s Day to January 2.