Midfielder Leighton Clarkson says Aberdeen have no fear of Premiership leaders Celtic ahead of their top-of-the-table clash at Pittodrie – not with the Red Army behind them.
Aberdeen face the Hoops on Wednesday for the first time since crashing to a 6-0 loss to the Parkhead side in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final in October.
Clarkson insists valuable lessons have been learned by boss Jimmy Thelin and the Dons after their semi-final shocker.
The 24-year-old pinpoints being too passive as a major fault in the semi defeat – and is confident there will be no repeat.
Celtic are unbeaten in the opening 13 Premiership games this season with their only dropped points a 2-2 draw with Aberdeen at Parkhead.
Clarkson insists the Reds can go one better by ending their unbeaten league run.
He said: “We can’t fear them.
“Before the 6-0 at Hampden, we had a decent record against Celtic by drawing the last three games.
“We’ll give them total respect, but we’ll be going out and looking to perform to the best of our ability – and trying to take the three points.”
Lessons learned from 6-0 mauling
The heavy 6-0 loss to Celtic at Hampden delivered the first setback in what has been a superb start to the season under Thelin.
Aberdeen were brushed aside by a ruthless Hoops side who were 3-0 up at the break at the national stadium.
What have the Dons learned from the defeat?
“A mixture of things, I think,” said Clarkson.
“The balance of counter-attacking, keeping hold of the ball, maybe not being as passive.
“I felt at Hampden we were a bit passive and Celtic have got really good players. When you give them half a yard, they can punish you and they did.
“It’s happened, but that 6-0 loss is in the past now. We look forward.
“In the games since then, the spirit’s always been there. The fight’s always been there.
“You saw it at the end against Hearts. We’ve got that real togetherness in the squad still.
“We need to be at it on Wednesday.”
‘When Pittodrie is bouncing, it can rock other teams’
Aberdeen battled back from 2-0 down at half-time to secure a 2-2 draw with Celtic at Parkhead in October.
The Reds were neck-and-neck with Celtic at the top of the Premiership table before the winless run which extended to three games with Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Hearts.
Thelin’s second-placed Reds trail league leaders Celtic by four points – with the Hoops also holding a game in hand.
Clarkson reckons a packed Pittodrie can give the Reds an edge.
Aberdeen have a flawless home record this season – with 11 wins from 11 games at Pittodrie in all competitions.
Clarkson said: “We’ll have Pittodrie behind us, backing us all the way.
“A game under the lights can’t come much better than that.
“When Pittodrie is bouncing, it can rock other teams – and hopefully they’ll be there in full force on Wednesday night.
“When you get that place bouncing, it’s a really tough place to go for opponents.
“We’ll be at it Wednesday night and the crowd will be with us, too.
“We have a good record at home so, hopefully, we can take the three points.”
Hearts scored a ‘freak goal’ to level
Aberdeen will bid to stop a winless slide when facing the Premiership leaders in the Granite City.
Clarkson fired the Dons ahead against Premiership bottom club Hearts, but the Reds could not retain the lead and were pegged back to draw 1-1.
It was the second time in five day Aberdeen failed to retain a lead in Edinburgh.
They were 3-2 up against Hibs, having scored what seemed to be a dramatic late winner in the fifth minute of time added on – however, Hibs hit back within a minute to claim a draw.
Clarkson said: “It has been really tough places to go.
“Hibs and Hearts are bottom of the league and fighting for every ball, every point.
“You saw at the end against Hearts, they were pushing people forward.
“It was the same at Hibs.
“Hearts managed to get that goal, a freak goal.
“When we went ahead we should have really gone in 2-0 up, but we didn’t – and paid the price.
“We had nine points to play for and we’ve come out with two.
“As a team, we weren’t happy with the St Mirren performance (2-1 loss), and against Hibs we should have won.”
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