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Jack MacKenzie wants a repeat performance from Aberdeen at Hampden

Place in the League Cup final at stake as Dons face Hibernian at the National Stadium.

Aberdeen defender Jack MacKenzie. Image: SNS
Aberdeen defender Jack MacKenzie. Image: SNS

Jack MacKenzie believes another quick start is key to the Dons reaching the Viaplay Cup final.

A place in the final is at stake as the Dons face Hibernian at Hampden on Saturday and Barry Robson’s side head to the National Stadium with a spring in their step following their 4-2 win at Motherwell on Wednesday.

The Dons set the tone for an impressive victory from the first minute as they raced into a 4-0 lead and MacKenzie insists a repeat of the tempo shown at Fir Park is vital against the Hibees.

He said: “We need to start on Saturday as we did at Motherwell. If you start poorly and find yourself a couple of goals down it is really difficult to come back from that so we need to start well.

“Hibs are a really good side and they have improved a lot under the new manager.

“We know it will be a really tough game and one both teams want to win so I’m sure it will be a good spectacle.”

Big games keep coming for the Dons

As satisfying as the win in Lanarkshire was there is little time for Aberdeen to rest on their laurels with another huge match looming at the National Stadium on Saturday.

Dons fans will travel in their thousands to cheer on their side in their bid to reach the final and MacKenzie insists the support of the fans is crucial.

He said: “The fans have been amazing this season travelling all over the place in Europe and in these games from Ross County all the way down to Glasgow.

“We know they’ll push us on at the weekend as well and we’re really grateful for them.

“We’ve played against a lot of top teams already and Hibs are another top team so we’ll be ready for them.”

‘We know we needed to win’

Aberdeen’s Jamie McGrath (L) celebrates scoring to make it 3-0 at Motherwell with team-mates Nicky Devlin and Jack MacKenzie. Image: SNS

Aberdeen’s dominant display has certainly lifted the mood at Pittodrie following a tough week.

MacKenzie knows it was vital his side stopped the rot following back-to-back defeats to PAOK in the Conference League and at Kilmarnock on Sunday and was pleased to do so in style at Fir Park.

He said: “We knew we needed to win the game and get ourselves up there in the table going into the semi-final.

“Going into that on the back of three defeats would not have been good so we will take the confidence from our win.

“We’re struggling for consistency a wee bit at the moment. We were really good against PAOK, really poor at Kilmarnock but really good again against Motherwell.

“If you are playing and it’s win one, lose one, win one, lose one you’ll never get to where you want to be.”

Dons bounce back from Kilmarnock loss in style

Duk celebrates his goal which made it 4-0 at Fir Park. Image: SNS

The three points gained at Well lifted the Dons from second bottom to sixth in the table with a game in hand.

Aberdeen are within touching distance of the top four and having rallied up the table under Robson in the second half of last season MacKenzie knows the difference picking up points regularly makes in the Premiership.

He said: “It’s been really tight for the last couple of years.

“We took ourselves from ninth to third and qualifying for Europe on the back of a seven-game winning run last season so it’s there for any team that can put a run together.

“There was a lot of criticism off the back of the weekend and we went into the game in 11th place knowing we had to perform and we managed to do that.

“We really improved from the weekend where we were really poor.

“For 80 minutes we were really good but we were sloppy in the last 10 minutes when we conceded the two goals.

“But getting the three points was the most important thing as Motherwell is always a tough place to go so we’re delighted with that.

“The pitch was really good and we knew we’d be able to pass the ball. It was a case of just doing it.

“The pitch at Kilmarnock is really poor but we managed to pass the ball well at Fir Park.”

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