Former Aberdeen Women defender Carrie Doig believes the Dons are more than capable of escaping the SWPL 1 relegation zone.
The Dons currently sit second bottom in the top-flight with eight points, having won two and drawn two out of their opening 12 games.
Doig, who had been at the club for 18 years, retired at the end of the 2021-22 season as Aberdeen secured a fifth-place finish in their first season back in SWPL 1.
The former Dons defender is unsure whether they can achieve the same feat this year, but backs Aberdeen to string a few positive results together following the festive break, which could see them move up to a safer position in the league.
Aberdeen return to action in 2023 with a Women’s Scottish Cup home tie against Hutchison Vale, before SWPL 1 meetings with Hamilton Accies, Hearts and Glasgow Women.
Doig said: “I still support them so much, go along to all their home games and keep in touch with the girls, so it has been hard to watch them struggle this season.
“SWPL 1 is so close – and apart from the top, professional clubs – the rest of the league really is all to play for.
“I know we’re sitting second bottom right now, but even if we win one game we could move up two places in the league. I have so much belief in them and they have a lot of belief in themselves, too.
“It’s more than possible that the girls will be totally fine, they’re probably not going to finish fifth like we did last season, but things have changed.
“All the teams around them have changed as well, so it’s a totally different league this season. There’s still so much potential for them to move up the table.”
Big characters keep things positive
Despite Aberdeen’s struggles this season, Doig says her former teammates are not ones to be downbeat, with certain players stepping up to ensure a positive environment.
Doig said: “You’ve got big characters in the team like Loren Campbell – she’s phenomenal at lifting heads and pulling the team back together.
“Eilidh Shore, Jess Broadrick and Natasha Bruce are all brilliant at pulling everybody together by just saying ‘we don’t do sulking, so let’s get on with it’ and the team needs people like that.
“Even though the team has changed a lot this season, they’re still very close and that’s something special Aberdeen has always had.
“The team has always been close-knit and the club is close as one, so you feel part of it. It’s something special that will hopefully help the team to keep going.”
Following co-managers Emma Hunter and Gavin Beith’s resignation in November, Aberdeen are in the midst of appointing a new coach to lead the women’s team.
Doig says while she knows the team, herself included, were “gutted” to lose the duo, the former defender admits a change in coaching staff could be the thing which helps turn Aberdeen’s season around.
She said: “After the struggles this season, a new face coming in will be a fresh start for them. The players will need to prove themselves again and work really hard.
“I know the whole team were gutted when Emma and Gavin left because they’d done so much for the team, especially Emma.
“But it is football and maybe it was time to bring in a new coaching set-up to bring the team forward.”
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