Attacker Pape Gueye must turn to the same self-belief and determination during his injury absence which reignited his Pittodrie career.
Unfortunately Gueye will be ruled out for up to four months after suffering a quad muscle tear in training last week.
It is a hammer blow for Aberdeen and Gueye, who will undergo surgery.
Gueye was in red-hot form before his injury set-back and is still the leading scorer in the Premiership this season.
His sensational goal in the 2-1 win against Motherwell when he ran from inside the Dons’ half to score showed an attacker high on confidence.
It was a remarkable transformation from last season, when Gueye struggled to make an impact and managed just one start.
He was then sent on loan to Kristiansund BK in Norway from February to July.
Gueye fought hard and showed real belief to kick-start his career this season under manager Jimmy Thelin.
Gueye proved his quality this season
The Dons gaffer offered every player a clean slate and the chance to be part of his long-term plans and Gueye grabbed it.
Now the attacker will have to dig deep into that confidence in his own ability during his rehabilitation.
Before his injury, Gueye was in superb form and very exciting to watch.
Not only was he regularly scoring goals, the former Senegal under-20 international was doing it with style.
He was lightning fast, beating opponents and dangerous in front of goal, but also brought team-mates into play and put in a defensive shift.
He is not expected to return to action until January – but I have no doubt Gueye can rediscover his impressive levels in the second half of the season.
The key is retaining the self-belief and determination which got him through what was a tough debut season at Pittodrie.
Playing with a love of football
Gueye quickly became a fans’ favourite this season for not just his goals, but for the way he played with a sheer love of the game.
That was also displayed with his joyous dancing in front of supporters when celebrating after scoring.
Hopefully early in the new year, the attacker will be showing off new dance moves to the fans after scoring following comeback from injury.
The loss of Gueye is undoubtedly a blow for manager Jimmy Thelin, but he now has returning attacker Duk to call upon.
Duk returned to the match-day squad for the first time since going AWOL in the summer when he was named on the bench for the 2-1 win at Dundee.
Cape Verde international Duk never got game time at Dens, but it was another step on the road back after three months AWOL.
Duk returned to Pittodrie after the summer transfer window closed.
Duk must make most of opportunity
He still has a lot to prove to the fans, and Duk also has to show he is good enough to get into a team who have won all 12 games this season.
Duk has to get his head down and graft hard to repay his manager, club, team-mates and fans for giving him a second chance.
He was superb in his debut season at Pittodrie in 2022-23 when he scored 18 goals and scooped the club’s Player of the Year award.
Duk didn’t repeat those levels last season and the pressure is on for him to deliver top form this term.
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