Aberdeen midfielder Willo Flood hopes his late winner against Hibernian last night will get assistant manager Tony Docherty off his case for a few weeks.
The Irishman chose the perfect time to net his second goal of the season with a sumptuous strike with only four minutes remaining to give the Dons a fourth successive victory and an eighth win in nine matches.
Flood is not renowned for his goalscoring prowess but hopes his powerful strike from 25 yards will have pleased Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes’s assistant.
The 28-year-old said: “Tony Docherty has been having a go at myself and Ryan Jack for not shooting enough. I could hear him in my ear as I took the first touch and I thought this was a chance to shut him up. When it came out I took a decent touch and everything seemed to open up for me, so I thought I may as well have a go.
“I knew there wasn’t long to go as the referee had told me there was less than 10 minutes remaining.
“Doc is always on my case, so that will, hopefully, keep him quiet for a week or two but he is a hard man to shut up.”
The Dons have now scored 12 times in the final 10 minutes of matches this season, including late goals in all three of their victories in 2014 following other late winners against Dundee United on New Year’s Day and against Kilmarnock last Sunday.
Flood praised his teammates for their perseverance in pushing for a winning goal. He said: “In the last few games we seem to kick on in the final stages. Teams come here and they know that when they play Aberdeen they have to keep going until the last minute. We have scored a lot of late goals and I put that down to the team spirit and the will to win. There aren’t many people who give up right through the team, from the staff to the players. Everyone is going in the same direction.”
The Dons are now four points clear of third-placed Motherwell, although the Steelmen have two games in hand. Flood says there is still a long way to go in the race to finish best of the rest behind runaway leaders Celtic.
He added: “It is still early. Motherwell are a strong side and Dundee United are going to come back up the table again. Inverness will also kick on.”
Late show, Pages 70, 71