Alexander Jensen wants to ease the pressure on Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin

Aberdeen defender Alexander Jensen hopes he and his team-mates can build momentum to take the pressure of manager Jimmy Thelin.

The Dons bounced back from consecutive defeats to AEK Athens and Hibernian with a battling 1-0 win at Kilmarnock on Wednesday.

The gritty, dogged display was a much-needed result for the Dons, after the mini-recovery had been dented severely by the last two results.

Manager Thelin has faced intense scrutiny about his position following the club’s poor start to the campaign, but Jensen believes his side can change the mood at Pittodrie by building on their hard-fought victory at Rugby Park in the weeks ahead.

Jensen said: “It was good to give the manager a victory. He cannot go and play the games, it’s us who have to do that.

“We have to perform and we have to get the victories.

“When you are going through times like this, a tough spell, this is the kind of victory we needed to loosen up a bit.

“It was a good collective performance at Kilmarnock. We defended very well.

“Sometimes you need a performance like that. It was a good bounce back after the weekend.”

Jensen’s praise for debutant Lobban

Jensen switched from the right wing back role to the left side as team-mate Dylan Lobban made his debut for the club and the Danish defender was not surprised to see Lobban impress on his first appearance for the first team.

Jensen insists Lobban, who captains the B team in the Aberdeenshire cup competitions and the KDM Evolution Trophy matches, showed why Thelin had no hesitation in throwing him into the starting line-up at Rugby Park.

He said: “Dylan did very well. He was very good. It was good to see him doing well in a game.

“He has been improving a lot since I came here.

“It was amazing to see him doing so well and hopefully he can continue that.

“He was composed and assured and I am not surprised – we see that in training.

“He has kept on improving, looking good in training, good going forward as a very modern full-back, wing-back.

“What you saw out there is what we’ve seen in training.”

Jensen hopes to build momentum following Kilmarnock win

The Dons had to dig deep for all three points at Kilmarnock as they survived strong second half pressure from the home side following Stuart Armstrong’s first goal for the club in the first half.

But Thelin’s side held on to record their first win at Rugby Park since a 2-0 win in December 20, 2020, to secure their third league win of the campaign.

Despite a disappointing start Aberdeen are only five points off third place and Jensen hopes the gritty showing in Ayrshire can spark a winning run for his side.

He said: “It’s a huge victory in terms of confidence and building momentum.

“It was a great victory. I think we haven’t won at Kilmarnock in a long time so it was good for the group to do that.

“I think we always try to fight. But sometimes the margins go against you.

“This time when we blocked the shots, they stayed out. We did it very well.

“We have always been looking up the table.

“Hopefully we can focus on every game coming, though, instead of looking too much at the table.”

Jensen was also delighted to repay the Aberdeen support who again travelled in good numbers to cheer on their side.

The Dane believes the victory was as important for the fans as it was the players.

He said: “It was what we needed and it was amazing to see all these fans coming to Kilmarnock on a Wednesday night.

“It was very good to give them a victory, they needed that.”

[Source: Press and Journal]