Dons co-boss Gavin Beith believes Aberdeen Women have an opportune moment to return to winning ways when they travel to Motherwell in today’s SWPL 1 encounter.
The Dons are without a win in all competitions from their last five games and have failed to score in their last four games against Rangers, Hibernian (twice) and Glasgow City.
However, Sunday’s fixture puts Aberdeen back on a level playing field with their opposition as Motherwell are a side they know they can beat, having done so in August.
Beith believes his side can use their experience in defeat to prevent their losing streak extending to six games.
He said: “We’ve been in the habit of winning, winning, winning for the last two years so to go to through this rough run, the players have understandably been a little bit down and despondent.
“The girls have not been in the habit of having to deal with these defeats, but these are the things we learn from and pick up ourselves to keep going.
“If we can perform like we know we can and put in the effort that we did in the second half against Glasgow City, then we will absolutely be a big threat at Motherwell.
“Hopefully we can get back to scoring goals and creating more opportunities. Our main aim is getting those three points on Sunday.”
A slump or an expected blip?
Aberdeen will hope to turn their season around against Motherwell after five consecutive defeats, but it would be unfair to evaluate the Dons season on those results alone.
The Reds have come up against three of the top-four SWPL 1 sides in recent weeks, fixtures that they realistically wouldn’t have expected to pick up many points from.
However, Motherwell must be considered a must-win fixture for Aberdeen to reignite their SWPL 1 campaign and ensure their blip against top sides doesn’t spiral into a slump.
The last meeting between the two sides ended in a 1-0 victory for the Dons courtesy of a Bayley Hutchison goal, but Aberdeen will know not to rely on history as Motherwell have slowly found their feet in SWPL 1.
After a poor start to the SWPL cup and the league, Motherwell are now level on points with the Dons having gone undefeated in October with convincing victories over Hearts and Hamilton and a draw at Spartans.
#SWPL | Here's the updated @SWPL 1 table ⬇
The top four all picked up three points tonight ✔@ThistleWFC's draw away to @spartansfcwomen lifts them up to 5⃣th in the table ⬆ pic.twitter.com/f8coWlEUfK
— Scottish Women's Premier League (@SWPL) November 3, 2021
Improved ‘Well personnel
Since the sides last met in August, Motherwell have strengthened their squad with the addition of former Hibs forward Carla Boyce and midfielder Katie Rice.
Boyce came up through the ranks at Glasgow City before playing at Rangers and Hibernian. While Rice joins Motherwell for her second spell after two years with the Hibees.
Former Scotland international and Motherwell player-coach, Leanne Crichton will also be on Aberdeen’s radar after being nominated for SWPL 1 player of the month for October.
Crichton, who won 72 caps for her country, scored two goals and one assist during her side’s impressive run of form.
However, Aberdeen should boast a strong team of their own with only Donna Paterson and Jenna Penman being the regular starters that have not been included in the last two matchday squads.