Curtis Main expects to face Celtic on Sunday.
The Aberdeen striker was handed a rare start at Hamilton on Tuesday ahead of 21-goal team-mate Sam Cosgrove and scored the goal which ended his club’s five-game drought in the Dons’ 3-1 win at New Douglas Park.
It was only Main’s second goal for the club since moving to Pittodrie from Motherwell in the summer but the 27-year-old believes he deserves to keep his place in the side for this weekend’s home game against the Premiership champions.
He said: “I fully expect to retain my place for Sunday. I don’t see myself coming in, putting in a performance, and coming out the side.
“That’s not my personality or something I would ever accept for myself.
“Whatever the decision is, in my head my thought is that I’m looking forward to the next game.”
Main has had to be patient due to the form of Cosgrove but he has not been shy in letting manager Derek McInnes know he wants to play and having been taken his opportunity on Tuesday he is determined to fight for his place.
He said: “Let’s just say I know where the manager’s office is. He needs to expect that, it comes with the job.
“He knows from my point of view I’m here to play. I’m here to work hard and do well for the club and I’m obviously banging on the door and asking for opportunities when I’m not getting them.
“It’s always nice to come in when you’ve been out the side and remind people exactly why you were here in the first place.
“On a personal level I obviously want to play. If the team’s playing well and winning games and the centre forwards are scoring then that’s the time you hold your hands up and say ‘fair dos, no problem’.
“But when things aren’t going so well you hope to get your chance and make an impression and show why you deserve to be in the starting line-up.
“I came in during the summer hoping to keep progressing and to go straight into the team and show the Aberdeen fans what they’d signed.
“Unfortunately I’ve not been able to get into the team as frequently as I’d have liked for various reasons.
“I’ve had to be patient and knuckle down and work hard behind the scenes – some of the stuff that maybe goes unnoticed – to be ready for opportunities like Tuesday night.”
Main’s recall to the starting 11 was one of the key factors in the Dons ending their five-match winless run and the striker is now aiming to build on the morale-boosting victory at Accies.
He said: “I’ve been involved in teams that have gone on long runs without scoring but you could see on Tuesday night that in 45 minutes we were 3-0 up.
“Sometimes things don’t click for whatever reason but we reshuffled, tried a new approach, and got our reward so we’re looking to build on that.”