Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin believes his side need to shake off their sluggish starts in games.
The Dons boss labelled his side’s thrilling 3-3 draw at Hibernian on Tuesday a rollercoaster after watching his team rally from 1-0 down at half-time to 2-1 up as the game reached injury time.
Further drama followed with Hibs equalising before Ester Sokler scored a dramatic overhead kick, only for the home side to somehow find another leveller to deny the Dons victory.
The incident-packed conclusion stole the headlines but, following a similarly slow start in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat by St Mirren, Thelin is looking for his side to be quicker out the blocks in games.
The Dons boss said: “It was a real rollercoaster, both teams had a lot of chances. It was a tough learning experience.
“We have to find a better way to start the game.
“We did not really get things moving in the first half and Hibernian were already better and more dangerous than we were.
“We had a good talk with the players about the start after the game and we still have some things to improve in some parts of how we defend, but that’s football.
“It’s a collective sport, and we just have to keep working on that every week before the next game.”
‘Angry is the wrong word’
Thelin was disappointed not to claim victory following the dramatic conclusion which left his players crestfallen.
But the Dons boss insists there was no anger on his part at seeing his side drop two points in the capital.
The Aberdeen manager said: “Angry is the wrong word, but we have to learn.
“It was a hard lesson, but that has happened in football games before, all over the world, and it happened to us.
“Of course it was a disappointment, everybody feels it, when you are up 3-2 and there’s just seconds left of the game, everybody feels disappointment.
“I know the players, they want to fight so hard for the support, that’s how we celebrate with them when we score to make it 3-2.
“But you have to manage and control, stay focused when these things happen, and the last minute, the last second of the game, we have to stay focused, then we can celebrate together when the game is closed.
“We know we need to be compact. We know in that situation they’re just going to kick it.
“We have to be close to each other, but we weren’t, and there was space all over the place, and then they find this way (to score).
“The feeling we have is we made collective mistakes and that the game is not over until it’s over.
“We have to be more compact in the final stages, it’s a tough learning experience. That’s football, you have to learn and move on.
“Next time this happens we have to be more compact.”
Positives to be found despite dropped points
Having led twice away from home and not hung on to claim victory the disappointment in the Dons camp is understandable.
But Thelin insists, despite seeing his side fail to take all three points, there were positives to be found from the six-goal thriller at Easter Road.
He said: “It wasn’t controlled in a lot of parts but the positive thing was the team spirit. How we fought for each other was the good thing.
“Even if it was not the perfect game, still we had the spirit and we scored three goals away. That’s really, really strong.
“I stay focused on the positive things and I’m so impressed with how the players found a way back, it’s not easy.
“We need to think about the good things we did. We scored more goals and we created more opportunities.
“We are on a journey together and have to learn to cope with the intensity of games, trust the identity we have.”
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