Aberdeen assistant manager Tony Docherty has challenged his players to make sure Caley Thistle do not become the exception in his club’s season by winning at Caledonian Stadium on Monday.
The Dons have beaten every team in the Scottish Premiership this season, including leaders Celtic twice, but Caley Jags are the one blot in an otherwise impressive Aberdeen copybook.
Ashton Taylor scored in a 2-1 loss at Caledonian Stadium in September before late goals from Niall McGinn and Adam Rooney rescued a point for the Dons at Pittodrie on Boxing Day.
With John Hughes’ side seventh in the league and fighting to secure a top-six berth, Monday’s match could be the final meeting of the clubs this season and Docherty does not want Inverness to be the one that got away.
He said: “Caley Thistle are the only team we haven’t beaten this year, so that will be the motivation for the trip to Inverness. We want to go through the season having beaten everyone but we know how difficult a game it will be there.
“We are in good form but they have only lost one of their last six, having won three and drawn the other two, so they are in a good bit of form themselves. It will be a tough test in Inverness and we will need to play well to get a result.
“It is disappointing to lose any game and our last match there was poor but it wasn’t any different from any other apart from the fact we did not win and want to make sure we right a wrong.”
Greg Tansey will line up against the Dons and the midfielder will provide the sub-plot of Aberdeen’s trip to the Highlands after the Dons’ failure to land their transfer target despite offering £210,000 for the player on transfer deadline day.
But, with Aberdeen challenging Celtic at the top of the table ,Docherty is in no mood to discuss his club’s failed move for the Caley Thistle player.
He said: “There has been enough said about it and I want to draw a line under it. The window has closed, there is nothing we can do about it and we are of a mindset that we should focus only on the events we can control.
“He is a good player and Russ Richardson, our head of recruitment, identifies players who can fit into our squad. He was one we looked at but the window has closed and we move on.
“Inverness have got good players and we know how hard it will be as they are a decent team and it will take a good Aberdeen performance to get a result there.”