Co-manager Gavin Beith says Aberdeen Women must go on a winning run to get themselves comfortably out of the bottom two in SWPL 1.
The Dons travel to K-Park on Sunday to play Motherwell in search of their first back-to-back wins of the season, having won just one game thus far in the campaign.
Beith and Emma Hunter’s side last played in the top-flight three weeks ago when they beat Glasgow Women 2-0 at Pittodrie.
The Reds still sit second bottom of SWPL 1 – four points clear of bottom side Glasgow Women, but three points behind league newcomers Dundee United.
If results and scorelines go Aberdeen’s way on Sunday, they could leap-frog United – Beith’s former side – ahead of the two teams’ first meeting of the season next weekend.
And while Beith says the Dons will focus on one game at a time, he recognises their next three SWPL 1 fixtures are ones where picking up points is a must.
After travelling to Motherwell and Dundee United, Aberdeen play their final home game of the calendar year against Spartans on December 4.
Seven-point haul minimum aim for next three games
The Aberdeen co-manager said: “You look at the fixtures and you look at ones like this where you can go on a bit of a winning run – if you put in good performances.
“You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out where we are in the league and that means we need to start picking up more points.
“If we can pick up seven points – although nine would be ideal – out the next three games, then that brings us right back up amongst the group in the middle of the table.
“However, we know wins have been hard to come by, so we do have to focus on one game at a time and put everything we’ve got into this Motherwell game.
“We know we need to win on Sunday to start to get ourselves back in contention in the table. Although we’re only on four points now, a couple wins brings us back into it.
“It would have been good to have played a league game sooner after the win against Glasgow Women, but it’s given us more time to prepare and analyse Motherwell.”
Perth friendly provided food for thought
Despite the three-week break in league fixtures, due to the cup and international break, the Dons have continued to train like normal and played St Johnstone in a friendly.
The bounce game in Perth was an opportunity to rotate the squad ahead of their return to competitive action, and Beith says it has given him and Hunter food for thought.
He added: “It’s really difficult – rotating or keeping things the same – because we have a very good squad here, but it has given us something to think about.
“There were good performances, and not-just-good performances, but the squad have had a really good attitude over the last few weeks.
“We’ve had an opportunity to take the pressure off a bit with that friendly, and it was good for the players to take their chance, relax a bit and focus on playing.
“Everyone has an equal opportunity to be in the squad for Motherwell.”
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