Aberdeen attacker Ryan Hedges believes the next five matches will shape his club’s challenge at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
The Dons moved up to third place in the Scottish Premiership thanks to a 2-0 win against Motherwell at Pittodrie on Saturday with Tommie Hoban and Andy Considine’s goals securing victory.
The result takes the Dons above Hibernian and within four points of second-placed Celtic and Hedges insists he and his team-mates are determined to push as high up the table as they can.
📺 Ryan Hedges, who was named as our Samaritans Man of the Match, gives his instant reaction to today's victory. COYR!#StandFree pic.twitter.com/b8uHnbWW9l
— Aberdeen FC (@AberdeenFC) January 23, 2021
He said: “The gaffer has pinpointed the next five games as real big ones which can be a turning point in our season and hopefully we can get some results and pull away from the rest of the pack.
“From this performance you could see everyone was enjoying it out there. When you are playing well everyone wants to be involved.
“We’ve got to aim as high as we can, but we have to take it one game at a time. The next five games are crucial and hopefully we can kick on in these five and then see where we are after that.
“We had a bit of a fortress here and we overturned some demons by beating Motherwell, which was our first defeat in a while here. We have to keep making it a hard place for opposition teams to come.”
Saturday’s win, as well as putting Aberdeen back in third place, also helped the Dons get back on track after their 4-1 loss at Ross County and Hedges insists there is much more to come from his club in the run-in.
He said: “It has been a bit of a strange season. We had those games in hand and to get three points in one of them makes a big difference and makes the table look better for us but we know there is a lot more to come from this team which is why we have to produce performances.
“There is massive expectation at this club, but you want that as a player. You strive to be at a club which wants to progress and be as successful as it can be. Everyone involved at Aberdeen wants that. We want to be as high as we can, in cup finals and in Europe.”
On the importance of responding positively to the defeat at Ross County last week, Hedges said: “The gaffer mentioned we needed to bounce back after the disappointment of last week and we did that.
“The team performance was much more like ourselves, but getting the three points was the main thing.
“We had to come out the traps and show the right attitude and that we could bounce back and we duly delivered.
“It’s disappointing to miss games, especially through my own fault, and it would have been nice to be involved last week but these things happen. Now I have to work hard to keep myself in the team.”