Aberdeen may have won four consecutive league games for the first time since 2008 but manager Derek McInnes is refusing to get carried away with his side’s form.
Willo Flood’s superb late winner against Hibs at Pittodrie on Friday kept the Dons a point better off than third-placed Motherwell ahead of this weekend’s visit of Caley Thistle.
The Dons are the bookmakers’ favourites to finish second behind runaway Premiership leaders Celtic and continue to be linked with a loan move for Blackburn Rovers attacker David Goodwillie. But McInnes knows his players cannot afford to get caught up in the hype surrounding Aberdeen’s resurgence.
He said: “We can’t get too ahead of ourselves. We wouldn’t be the first team to fall flat on our faces.
“I know who is in and around us but I don’t look at the table too much. A couple of weeks ago we were in fifth spot and I didn’t get too anxious about it.
“It is very tight in the league and if we don’t show the same consistency that we have shown recently then we will quickly fall down a couple of places.
“We have to make sure that whether we win, lose or draw, it doesn’t affect us going into the next match.
“We want to be in the mix and give ourselves a chance to fulfil what we know the sup- porters want.”
Prospects are good of finishing in the top six for the first time since Jimmy Calderwood’s reign.
McInnes may be underplaying his hand when it comes to his team’s chances of finishing best of the rest but even he is willing to accept that the Dons can avoid a fifth successive season in the bottom six.
He added: “I am confident we will be better than we have been. We have shown good signs but we are only five months into the season and the season lasts nine months. We still have it all to do.”
Expectations are rising around the Granite City about what the Reds can achieve this season which was exemplified by nearly 13,000 supporters attending Friday’s home win.
McInnes added: “Hibs are going well and brought a decent support and our supporters were there in big numbers again.
“I think they are enjoying watching the team. There is a good connection between the players and the supporters.
“It is important we keep together. The players certainly appreciate the support and thankfully we managed to send them home happy on Friday.”
Tate’s happy debut, Page 62