Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie insists Saturday is the perfect time for his side to end their poor away record at Hearts.
The Dons have not won at Tynecastle since Adam Rooney and Anthony O’Connor netted in a 2-1 win in May 2017.
With the Jambos holding a 16 point lead on the Dons in the race for Europe, albeit having played three games more than his side, Shinnie knows three points would be much needed by his side this weekend.
The midfielder said: “Every game is for where we are at and where we want to be. We need to try and pick up the three points.
“It is a tough place to go but it is one we know if we play to our capabilities we have got the team to go and win the game.
“It is about resting now and going and recovering and preparing to go to Edinburgh.
“I am excited about the game.”
Dons aiming to change the form guide
The spoils have gone with the home team in this fixture in recent years.
With the Dons missing the chance to reduce the gap further when they were held to a 1-1 draw by St Johnstone in Perth on Wednesday Shinnie knows they need a big result in the capital.
He said: “We need to make a change to that (record). We are trying to put points on the board as quickly as we can.
“Where we are is not where we want to be.
“When you have a night like this where we draw 1-1 we need to look to Saturday to try and win that.
“Last year, we were quite far behind as well. They will know that and they will want to win the game to extend their lead.
“We are the opposite. We want to close the gap.”
Aberdeen captain angry at dropping points in Perth
There was frustration and disappointment in the Dons camp after letting their lead slip at McDiarmid Park on Wednesday.
Bojan Miovski’s penalty had given Aberdeen the lead before David Keltjens capitalised on a mistake from goalkeeper Kelle Roos to earn the home side a point.
The manner of the draw clearly irked Shinnie.
He said: “I was frustrated at the end with the way things ended.
“We got so disjointed and we could have lost the game from being in such a strong position.
“We were in a good place from 70 to 75 minutes getting the goal up.
“We felt confident we would go on and win it but we lost a really bad goal.
“Towards the end we could have lost.
“I was angry after the game. More so how we ended it.
“You lose a goal, it went 1-1 and I felt we lost our shape completely.
“Players were going all over the place.
“They are trying to win the game but we are losing our composure and our shape.
“It could have lost us the game and that was my big frustration after the game.
“We have to be more disciplined and more controlled in what we do.
“All your play comes from your structure and we could have lost it in the end.”
Roos’ mistake compounded the disappointment but the Aberdeen captain insists there were collective errors which led to Saints’ equaliser.
He said: “It is not only Kelle. We had centre halves, midfielders on the pitch.
“We have to deal with stopping the cross.
“We need to deal with the ball better between Kelle and the defenders.
“It is not just Kelle.”
‘We need to move on’
The draw felt like a defeat for the Dons but Shinnie believes there are positives to be taken from the point gained in Perth.
He said: “It would have been good to get the win on Wednesday.
“We were desperate for another clean sheet because another three points would be massive and we need to take the point and move on to Saturday.
“If we had won tonight we would have won three in a row.
“We are unbeaten in three games. We have to take the positives. It is another game unbeaten and we move on.
“We are just trying to win each game as they come now.
“We are not looking anywhere but the next game. I know that is a cliche in football but that is where we are at just now, trying to take each game as it comes.
“We are trying to put points on the board as quickly as we can.”
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