Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin has challenged his players to pick themselves up and go again as the club’s top six push goes to the wire.
A disappointing 2-2 draw at Dundee on Saturday has left the Dons needing to beat Ross County on Saturday and hope Hibernian fail to win at Hearts if they are to secure a top six berth.
Goodwin is frustrated at dropping two points at Dens Park, but knows his side cannot afford to dwell on their missed opportunity with a must-win game against Malky Mackay’s Staggies looming large.
The Dons boss said: “Had we won on Saturday it would be in our own hands as we knew if we beat Ross County it would be all done.
“Now we need to beat Ross County and hope Hibs don’t win their game.
“Hearts will be desperate to get a victory in the Edinburgh derby and are probably favourites, but it is one of those games which can go either way.
“We have to dust ourselves down and get back out there and put in a performance which can get three points, then we’ll see what happens.”
Lessons must be learned from Dundee
The two points dropped at Dundee remain a source of frustration for the Aberdeen manager.
The Dons had to settle for a point despite leading twice against Mark McGhee’s relegation-threatened side, but were left to rue missed opportunities in both penalty boxes.
Despite his unhappiness at not securing the win which would have put Aberdeen’s top six fate in their own hands, Goodwin believes lessons can be learned from the Dens Park display.
There has been much focus on the two goals Aberdeen conceded, but the Dons were also wasteful in front of goal as they squandered some gilt-edged opportunities to score.
He said: “It was extremely disappointing and very frustrating. We did enough in the game to win.
“We had numerous chances, we’ve hit the bar, had one cleared off the line and we had ourselves in front on two occasions.
“It should have been enough to win the game, but unfortunately two key moments have cost us dearly.
“If you don’t take the chances when they come along – and I think we should have been three or four goals to the better – it’s a different outcome.”
Dons boss wants players to take more responsibility
The two key moments were the defending at both free-kicks.
The organisation in dealing with the deliveries from Charlie Adam was poor and the Aberdeen manager is convinced both goals could have been avoided.
They are timely lessons which must be heeded ahead of Saturday’s visit of Ross County to Pittodrie
Goodwin said: “We shouldn’t have conceded two goals from set-plays.
“I don’t like pointing the finger at any individuals. We know the quality Charlie Adam has from dead ball situations, but somebody has to take responsibility.
“We’ve conceded two extremely poor free-kicks.
“Joe Lewis hasn’t had a great deal to do in goal, but we haven’t dealt with two situations.
“People are given jobs and responsibilities in those moments and unfortunately we haven’t done it properly.
“As a team, the nearest man to it has to get his head to that ball and the Dundee man has beaten us to it twice.
“We should have managed the game a lot better at 2-1 and we didn’t.
“The fact of the matter is we haven’t won a game because we haven’t taken responsibility in two situations.”
