Barry Robson insists revenge is the last thing on his mind as he bids to close the gap on Hearts to four points in the Scottish Premiership.
The Dons suffered a 5-0 defeat in their last game against Robbie Neilson’s side when the sides met at Tynecastle in January.
A Scottish Cup exit at Darvel and a 6-0 defeat by Hibernian at Easter Road in the two games which followed led to former manager Jim Goodwin being dismissed as the Dons slipped 10 points behind the Jambos.
But having guided the team to three wins from his five games in charge interim boss Robson believes his side can take confidence from their recent displays.
He said: “I haven’t thought about the last Hearts game at all. It was two months ago.
“My focus has been on what we have achieved the last couple of weeks.
“We’ve gradually got better in terms of how we want to play and we’ve got some good results which is important.
“We’re alright at the minute but there is lots of room for improvement which I’m sure the players would agree.
“What we need to do is go out there and try our best, make sure we perform to our best level and that gives us every chance of getting a result.”
‘We need to be at our best’
Victory for the Dons would push the club firmly back into the race for third place but Robson has played down the significance of Saturday’s match for his side.
He said: “I’ve not thought about ifs, buts and maybes.
“We want to win a football match if we can. We can all have a good Saturday night if that’s the case.
“Robbie Neilson has done a terrific job at Hearts and he has some really good players. We need to be at our best and that’s all I’ve been focused on.”
Interim boss remains reluctant to push his case for becoming manager
Robson will take charge for his sixth game as caretaker manager this weekend as the club’s search for a new manager continues.
A fourth win in six games would be a remarkable turnaround for a team which managed one win in the previous 10 matches under Goodwin.
But interim boss Robson remains reluctant to put himself forward publicly for the role on a permanent basis.
He said: “The club made it clear from the start they were going to take their time and they’ve stuck to that.
“With the preparation required this week the last thing I’ve had is time to speak to the board.
“When you are in this position with the amount of things you have to think about and work on the days fly by.
“I haven’t spoken to the board in depth about anything.
“We’ve all been making sure we’re going in the same direction for the football club and we’ve done that so far.”
Robson added: “I made myself clear at the start. I’m here to try to win matches for this club.
“I’ve been here a long time and I want the club to do well. I’ve got a lot of friends here and I’ve tried to do my best.
“I’m 100% focused on trying to make our fans happy and I hope they will come out and back us in huge numbers again as I know Hearts have sold their allocation.
“I remember playing in this team in front of 43,000 fans at Celtic Park and I’ve seen how good they are.
“If we can get the fans out backing the club it will really help the players and they’ve been fantastic since I came in.”
Conversation