Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes sets attacker Marley Watkins double figures challenge

Marley Watkins' header flies past Ross Laidlaw.
Aberdeen beat Ross County handsomely in Dingwall earlier this season.

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes has challenged Marley Watkins to reach double figures for the first time in his career.

The on-loan Bristol City attacker opened his Dons account yesterday when he scored the first goal in his side’s 3-0 win at Ross County, with two penalties from Lewis Ferguson completing the scoring.

The Welshman’s best return in a season is eight goals and McInnes believes Watkins is capable of bettering that tally whilst at Pittodrie.

He said: “Marley’s never throughout his career been a guy who scored 15 or 20 goals, but he’s always contributed.

“He’s always been an important team player, but he is capable I think, in this team, to get well into double figures. It was an important goal for Marley to get him up and running.

“I think anybody who has been watching us over the last wee while will see how he has led the line and brings so much to the team.

“We tried to make not too much of an issue of it, but he is there to score goals as well and I think that was so important for him.”

Watkins, left, celebrates.

The striker’s contribution was one of several pleasing aspects of an excellent Aberdeen display against the Staggies, who suffered their third straight home defeat.

The Dons were dominant from the first whistle to the last in Dingwall and if there was any disappointment from their display it was that the margin of victory was not greater.

McInnes was delighted with the emphatic response to last weekend’s 3-0 home loss to Motherwell.

He said: “It was important we got back to winning ways.

“It took us a while in getting the first goal, but it was a very important goal for the team.

“There was also a sense of relief. We were so dominant in that first period, but were so wasteful with our chances. On another day, that can come back to bite you.

“We go in at half-time 1-0 up and we ask for more of the same. The tempo and intensity of the team was clear from the start.

“It was in complete reverse to last week, where we started a bit dippy after the European game.

“From first minute to last, I thought the players were fantastic.”