Boss Jimmy Thelin has demanded struggling Aberdeen be brave in the bid to haul themselves out of a 12-game winless collapse in form.
The Dons’ Premiership form has crashed with just four points secured from the last possible 36 following a 3-0 loss at Rangers on Wednesday.
Next up for the Dons is a Scottish Cup fourth-round tie against League Two Elgin City at Borough Briggs on Saturday.
The pressure is on Thelin and his squad to end the slump against a side three divisions below them.
Thelin has warned his stuttering side cannot “feel sorry for themselves” and must fight to get the season back on track.
Swede Thelin insists his belief Aberdeen will emerge from this challenging period remains undented.
And he reckons the Reds will come out from the slump even stronger when new signings make an impact and players return from injury.
He said: “In normal life when you have setbacks you have to keep pushing to get out and get better.
“You can’t sit down, cry and feel sorry for yourself because that’s not going to help.
“Of course, you can feel some stress sometimes and that’s my job to try to calm down the stressors, and keep the belief in the right direction.
“I feel the squad has that strong belief and they are trying so hard in the training sessions.
“However, in games you lose to a late goal or we don’t score the chances we have.
“But you can’t feel sorry for yourself. It’s not going to help.
“So you have to be strong, be brave and go out and try again.”
Thelin confident Aberdeen will emerge stronger
Thelin has made four signings during the January transfer window in a bid to reignite the season and build for the future.
Defenders Alexander Jensen and Kristers Tobers were both signed on permanent long-term deals with a cumulative cost in excess of £1million.
Defender Alfie Dorrington (Tottenham) and winger Jeppe Okkels (Preston North End) were secured on loan until the end of the season.
Thelin is also in the midst of an ongoing injury crisis, with key players sidelined.
He said: “I’m 100% sure we’re going to get out on the other side.
“And we’re going to get more and more stable, get some players back.
“The competition inside the squad will increase again so that everybody has to fight for their spot.
“And then we have a better team again.”
Post-mortem after Rangers defeat
A defensive frailty and lack of cutting edge in attack have both been at the heart of Aberdeen’s 12-game winless run.
Those weaknesses were exposed in the loss to Rangers.
Thelin revealed there was a post-mortem with the team as to what went wrong at Ibrox.
He said: “It was a difficult game.
“We talked about how we handled the one-against-one situations.
“We focused a lot on ourselves, actually.
“There is still this journey to do as team to raise our standards and level.”
Thelin won’t underestimate Elgin
Elgin City are riding high in League Two and sitting third in the table in a title battle.
Borough Briggs is sold out for the visit of the Dons, with the ground granted a 4,520 safety capacity
Aberdeen sold out their allocation of more than 1,700 tickets.
Thelin said: “Elgin have done well.
“We watched their games and I got a good report about them.
“They have some good players in one-against-one.
“They are good in crossing, but, of course, every team has weaknesses. We’re going to try to focus on that and be ready for their quality.
“However, regardless of whether it is Elgin, Rangers or Hearts, the focus for us is to fix the things we can take care of – how we behave as a team, the energy we play with, how we cooperate on the pitch.
“These things have to be one or two steps higher to get the results.
“For me the cup is so amazing because you can play these games against different levels.
“And that’s the core of the football – you can create dreams, the passion.
“That’s why you also have to respect your opponent,
“The Scottish Cup is so important to everyone at this club.
“We have the same preparation and hunger for every game.
“That is not different for Elgin.”
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