Our schedule hasn't been particularly heavy lately - we had three games in a week, which was the same as Aberdeen had to endure. However, we had three particularly tough fixtures. Seeing off Celtic at Hampden took a huge physical and mental effort, which could be seen in the second half against Inverness Caley Thistle as the players were knackered. There were still signs of tiredness as the Scottish Cup encounter with St Johnstone wore on, so a normal working week was just the ticket. The players should be refreshed and raring to go tomorrow as we look to continue our good form of late.
The three wins in seven days pretty much saved our season. If we'd gone out of both cups and lost to Caley Thistle then we'd have had nothing to play for, except ensuring we didn't become embroiled in a relegation battle with Dundee. The cup runs would have been over, the top six would have been out of sight and the confidence and spirit would have been down. Instead we're on a high - but we must keep that going. This league is unbelievably tight at the moment with just nine points between second and ourselves in 11th. A place in the top half isn't out of the equation yet, ridiculous as that sounds considering our form in October and November.
Pittodrie was the scene of one of the few highlights of the first half of the season when we beat Aberdeen on penalties to make the semi-finals of the League Cup. It was a game we should perhaps have won in normal time and it shows we are capable of going toe to toe with them on their own patch. They may have hammered us in Paisley but we did draw with them in the Granite City and our recent record up there isn't actually too bad, although we haven't exactly won a great deal of games there either. If we play properly we are capable of posing a few problems, providing we don't do anything rather silly at the back.
Last week's game against St Johnstone saw that rarest of things - a St Mirren clean sheet. There were plenty of them last season but they have been few and far between in the current campaign, our defensive frailties have been all too clear to see on more than one occasion. Craig Samson was inspired against the Saintees with a number of top quality saves so hopefully he can continue in that vein tomorrow as he bids to show why he should have been in the Scotland squad. The pairing of Jim Goodwin and Marc McAusland is likely to continue, although Paul Dummett could come in for Graham Carey. It wouldn't be a surprise to see them both start with Carey moved further forward as he's done well to force himself back into the team.
While Sammy was keeping them out at one end against the Saintees, Esmael Goncalves was banging them in at the other. The on-loan forward's return of four goals in three games is incredible and it should be even better as he should probably have bagged a hat-trick last week. All this and he's apparently overweight and not fully fit! The last week should have helped with that and the pairing of him and Steven Thompson is one of the most in-form in the country. Kenny McLean, who was missing last week as the squad wasn't big enough, is likely to be involved again and it wouldn't be a surprise to see him take over from John McGinn. Once again we're without Thomas Reilly and Darren McGregor but they're the only two injury victims.
I had a good laugh in the summer when people started tipping Aberdeen for second place in the SPL. This seemed to be a prediction based in no real logic, considering they hadn't been close to making it out of the top six in the previous few seasons and there hadn't exactly been an influx of star names over the summer. For a while it looked as if they would prove me wrong (not for the first time) but their form has dipped slightly since the turn of the year. While we go into this one on a high, they don't after managing just two points so far in 2013 and being knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Hibs. Pressure is growing on Craig Brown - which probably means they'll win!
For those of us who grew up while Brown was in charge of the Scotland team it's perhaps unsurprising that Aberdeen's team seems to be built on a good defence - although Andrew Considine is out for the foreseeable future with a broken leg. Bringing Russell Anderson back last year was a shrewd move as he finally seems to be over his injury problems and is solid as a rock at the back, while the recruitment of Mark Reynolds on loan from Sheffield Wednesday has also worked out and he's recently signed permanently. Anderson is one of many former Scotland players Brown has brought in since he took charge, another being Gary Naysmith who has had a few injury problems. Someone who is back fit and healthy is goalie Jamie Langfield, who can be decent but can also be capable of the odd howler - although few seem to come against us! Adding some youth at the back are Joe Shaughnessy, Ryan Jack and Clark Robertson, who all seem to be tipped for a bright future.
The midfield sees more of the former Scotland caps in the shape of Gavin Rae and Stephen Hughes. Bringing in Rae seemed fair enough and how he'd ended up back in the first division with Dundee is a mystery. Hughes was a slightly stranger signing as he'd already turned them down early last season before eventually signing. I've never been particularly impressed by him but he seems to be doing a decent job, as does Isaac Osbourne, while Robert Milsom has recently returned from injury. Johnny Hayes doesn't seem to be scoring as often as he did during his time with Inverness Caley Thistle but is still a real handful, while the bright lights of Bournemouth were enough to lure talented youngster Ryan Fraser away in January. He'd been due to leave in the summer anyway after having his head turned by the prospect of a big contract so the Dons did well to get a few hundred thousand pounds for him. Peter Pawlett has taken his place after returning from his loan spell at St Johnstone.
Fraser was one of the success stories of Aberdeen's season, the other unquestionably being Niall McGinn. No one quite knew why Brown thought the winger could play as a striker but clearly the veteran boss spotted something that nobody else could see as his form since arriving from Celtic in the summer has been phenomenal. 16 goals is probably far more than Brown could have hoped for and McGinn has also forced himself into the Northern Ireland set-up. It'll be interesting to see if his displays this season will see someone else come in for him in the summer. It's probably just as well he is scoring so many goals as the usual prolific Scott Vernon has dried up a bit this season and missed a penalty against Hibs last week. Mind you, he does like scoring against us and will probably end his poor run tomorrow! Josh Magennis also seems to cause us a few problems, with Rory Fallon and Cammy Smith providing back-up.
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