Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

‘People should give credit to our manager’ says Aberdeen’s Matty Kennedy who backs Jim Goodwin to get Reds back ‘on fire’

Aberdeen's Matty Kennedy celebrates putting Aberdeen ahead against St Mirren.(Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)
Aberdeen's Matty Kennedy celebrates putting Aberdeen ahead against St Mirren.(Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

Winger Matty Kennedy is confident boss Jim Goodwin will get Aberdeen “on fire” again after a nightmare return from the winter break.

The Dons have lost all three games since the resumption of action after the five-week Premiership shut down.

Goodwin’s side slumped to a 3-1 loss at St Mirren following losses to Rangers and Celtic.

Aberdeen still hold third spot in the Premiership but are just two points ahead of eighth-placed Livingston who have a game in hand.

Kennedy, who netted the opener against St Mirren, is confident Goodwin will guide the Reds back to winning form.

And he accepts that must start away at Kilmarnock on Wednesday.

Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin at full time in the 3-1 loss at St Mirren. Image: SNS.

Kennedy said: “Every game is massive now.

“We spoke in the dressing room afterwards about going to Kilmarnock and we just need to stick together and stay positive.

“Eventually things will go our way again.

“We were absolutely flying before that five-week break and people tend to forget about how good we were then.

“We were on fire for the first part of the season and I’m sure we’ll get back to that.”

Aberdeen players are dejected at the end of the 3-1 loss at St Mirren

‘People should give credit to our manager’

The loss at St Mirren is the latest setback since the Reds returned from the winter break.

Aberdeen boss Jim Goodwin received criticism for defensive tactics in the 1-0 loss to Premiership leaders Celtic.

The Reds were also 2-1 up against Rangers five minutes into injury time on Tuesday, only to suffer an inexplicable late collapse to lose 3-2.

A third straight loss will inevitably bring pressure on Goodwin and his players.

Despite the slump in form Kennedy insists the Dons boss has revitalised the fortunes of the club since his appointment in February.

And he reckons Goodwin should get credit, not flak.

Mark O’Hara converts to make it 1-1 against Aberdeen. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

He said: “I’ve been with 11 different clubs and I believe that people should give credit to our manager.

“Look where we were when he first came to Pittodrie.

“We were in a bad place but now other teams fear playing Aberdeen again and that’s all down to the manager.

“He’s been absolutely tremendous.

“No-one sees what he does around the training ground but he puts in so much work.

“He’s brought everyone together, the players and the staff.

“Opposing teams no longer look forward to coming to Pittodrie.

“We were three or four minutes away from great results against both Celtic and Rangers, who are the two best teams in the league.”

Aberdeen’s Ryan Duncan misses a great chance against St Mirren. Image: SNS.

‘That mistake changed the game’

Aberdeen were ahead via Kennedy’s superb strike until the game turned with the dismissal of captain Anthony Stewart.

Centre-back Stewart was shown a straight red in the 35th minute for a challenge on Jonah Ayunga.

A penalty was also awarded by referee Nick Walsh following Stewart’s foul which was converted by Mark O’Hara.

Walsh awarded St Mirren three penalties, with O’Hara netting a second to make it 2-1.

Ayunga took the third but keeper Kelle Roos saved his effort.

The turning point was the dismissal of Stewart who was dispossessed by Ayunga before bringing him down.

Aberdeen’s Anthony Stewart walks after seeing red against St Mirren.(Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

Kennedy said: “I think it was clear to everyone in the stadium that we were the better team for the first 35 minutes until Anthony made his error.

“He’s been brilliant for us but that mistake changed the game.

“We got to grips with it again in the second half and created a lot of chances, particularly in the last half-hour.

“We hit the post in the first half and the bar in the second half so we were always in the game.

“Obviously, we’re pushing for the equaliser when Kelle (Roos) comes up for the corner and we end up losing the third goal, which was hard to take.

“It was one of those days when nothing seemed to go our way but we just need to focus on Kilmarnock on Wednesday now.”

Conversation