Aberdeen goalkeeper Joe Lewis believes he plays for the second best team in Scotland – now he wants to prove it.
The Dons are three points clear of Rangers and Hibs with three games of the Premiership campaign remaining and will face their two rivals in the next two matches at Pittodrie.
Lewis insists the Dons are determined to send out a message that they are still best of the rest in Scotland, behind champions Celtic.
He said: “Hibs have done well and they are a good team but it is up to us. We believe we are the better team and we believe we can finish second. It would be a great achievement if we could finish second and we have to fight hard for that.”
Hibs boss Neil Lennon believes his side cannot afford to lose at Pittodrie on Saturday but Lewis, who missed the 2-0 loss to Hibs at Easter Road on February 17 due to injury, claims his team-mates are eager to make amends for their poor showing in Edinburgh.
He said: “I wasn’t involved but I did watch it. It was a bad game for us but we should be looking to replicate our win against Hibs at home the last time, when we won 4-1.”
Aberdeen have responded strongly to their Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Motherwell by taking maximum points in their last two games, two 2-0 wins against Kilmarnock and Hearts.
Scott McKenna, who was missed out on the PFA young player of the year award to Celtic’s Kieran Tierney on Sunday, has impressed in both wins to help Lewis reach 100 career clean sheets in the win against the Jambos. The Dons goalkeeper is eager to finish the campaign in style, saying: “There was a lot of negativity surrounding the club after the semi-final.
“The expectation from ourselves and the fans is we should be doing better than that.
“It was important we got back to winning ways with two wins and two clean sheets since then. It shows the character and quality. We have good players and people maybe got a bit carried away after two defeats.
“When you play for Aberdeen that expectation is high and we know the levels we can get to. If we fall below that we get frustrated ourselves and so now it is good to be back on a run.
“We have some important games coming up, so hopefully I can add a few more clean sheets before the end of the season. It is in our hands.”