Defender Hayden Coulson is confident Aberdeen will rediscover their cutting edge to kill off teams.
On-loan Middlesbrough left-back Coulson was left frustrated as the Reds conceded a dramatic late winner deep into injury time at Ross County.
Leading 1-0 with seconds left on the clock, Aberdeen were on coarse to secure a third successive Premiership victory for the first time since December 2021.
However the Staggies levelled five minutes into injury time to deny the Reds a deserved three points.
Coulson, 24, reckons the Reds dominated in Dingwall but were left to regret not making that count.
He is confident Aberdeen will start to punish teams when they are on top.
Coulson said: “We absolutely dominated the game and needed to punish them with a few goals early on.
“It was just the end product.
“With the balls in the box, crosses, all the lads were there.
“It was just that final execution of getting that assist and getting that goal.
“But it will come – we’re playing good football.
“With Duk scoring so late on we should have seen it out.
“We should have come away with three points so it feels a bit like a defeat.”
Aberdeen jump to third position
Aberdeen went ahead late on via a superb scissors kick from substitute Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes in the 88th minute.
However they were unable to hold out as William Akio hit a dramatic late leveller for the Staggies with the last kick of the match.
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Duk opens the scoring yesterday in Dingwall.#StandFree | #cinchPrem pic.twitter.com/CEPD6EQIe6
— Aberdeen FC (@AberdeenFC) September 4, 2022
Despite suffering the late injury time equaliser agony the Dons still jumped above Hearts into third place in the Premiership table.
Next up for Jim Goodwin’s new-look Dons is a home clash with second placed Rangers at Pittodrie on Saturday.
Rangers will be reeling having suffered a humiliating 4-0 derby loss to defending champions Celtic at the weekend.
Aberdeen trail the Ibrox club by three points and can move level with Rangers with a win in the Granite City.
Coulson insists the Dons are ready to “take it to” Rangers.
Excite supporters against Rangers
Aberdeen were cheered on by 2,174 travelling supporters in Dingwall.
And Coulson insists the Dons aim to deliver a performance against Rangers to excite the Red Army.
He said: “We’ll go into the game with Rangers in a positive frame of mind.
“We know what we can play, football-wise.
“Credit to the fans who travelled to Dingwall.
“Now we need to excite them on Saturday against Rangers.
“Obviously Rangers are a good side but we’re at home so we just need to play our game, take it to them and see what happens.
“We play good football and we have that togetherness in the team where we can take it to teams and show them what we can do.”
Coulson aims to progress with Dons
Coulson racked up 50 appearances in the English Championship with parent club Middlesbrough between 2019 to 2021.
He then had loan spells at Ipswich Town and Cambridge United last season.
The left-back is relishing the opportunity to face Rangers – and deliver a win.
He said: “It (Rangers) is the kind of game I came to Scotland to play in.
“For me personally, I came to progress and play first team football.
“I’ve had a few injuries in the last couple of seasons and haven’t really kicked on and shown what I can do.
“Coming up to Scotland, you’re excited to play against clubs such as Rangers, Celtic, Hibs and Hearts – it is part and parcel of it.”
Relief after recent injury scare
Former England U19 international Coulson is in the final year of his contract with Middlesbrough.
Coulson signed on a season long loan at Pittodrie in a bid to secure regular starts at a high level.
So far he is getting that.
However he suffered an injury scare in just his second game when forced off in the early stages of the 4-1 victory over St Mirren.
It prompted concerns the defender had suffered ligament damage however scans revealed the injury was not as bad as feared.
The defender missed just one game, a 3-2 loss to Motherwell, before returning to action.
He said: “When I got the injury, I did well to come back and play a couple of weeks later.
“It could have been a lot of worse.
“I’m hoping for no more injuries from clatters and tackles and stuff.
“I think I’ve settled well.”
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