Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes has called for more from his side following their 3-0 defeat at Hibernian on Saturday.
The Leith side’s win against the Dons was just their second in 17 matches and, while McInnes believes the final score did not reflect his side’s performance, he knows there must be an improvement when Hamilton visit Pittodrie on Saturday.
He said: “A 3-0 is not what we have come to expect, we’re extremely disappointed. Had we shown more conviction and quality we could have got ourselves in front.
“But all three goals we conceded came after we lost the ball in poor areas and Hibs became like the away team hitting us on the counter.”
McInnes made a triple substitution in an attempt to get something from the game following Martin Boyle’s opener for Jack Ross’s side and the Aberdeen manager concedes his decision may have been hasty.
He said: “We felt even at 2-0 there was something in the game. But the changes we made, maybe we were guilty of going for it a bit early. We wanted to be more of an attacking threat with two strikers and two wide players.
“I don’t want to dismiss it as a blip but we didn’t defend the goals well enough. We allowed it to develop where Hibs could play as an away side.
“We were good value in the first half and were far busier than they were. We counter-attacked really well and the speed of Jon Gallagher, Sam Cosgrove and Greg Leigh caused them problems.
“I’m maybe guilty of making too many changes looking back now. I thought the 3-4-1-2 we went to allowed us more possession of the ball and we got into good areas, but we didn’t do enough with the ball and I’ve gambled too early with the shape because it left us more open.”
Aberdeen winger Niall McGinn was replaced on the substitutes’ bench by Bruce Anderson after suffering a recurrence of the calf strain which forced him to miss the Rangers match but McInnes hopes he will be fit to face Accies on Saturday.