Aberdeen are winning ugly but Graeme Shinnie believes momentum is with Dons

Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie says it has not been pretty, but he believes momentum is with the Dons as they continue to climb the Scottish Premiership.

The Dons skipper came off the bench at half-time to help lead his side to a 2-1 win against Kilmarnock at Pittodrie.

The victory stretched Jimmy Thelin’s side’s unbeaten run in the league to seven matches.

Shinnie knows the run has been built on grit and determination, but the fact Aberdeen are getting results and closing the gap on the teams above them is all that matters.

He said: “We’ve put ourselves back into the position where we want to be – fighting up at the top of the league.

“We obviously had a really slow start. Players coming in from Europe and taking time to gel.

“But we’ve hit a good bit of form. It’s not always been pretty.

“But winning 1-0 at St Mirren, we haven’t won there for a while, winning at Kilmarnock, we haven’t done for a while, winning at Livingston, which we haven’t done for a while, is important.

“It doesn’t always have to be pretty. You can gain momentum by winning games. And that’s what we’ve done.

“I think in this league, it’s so vitally important that you go on winning runs, because it’s crucial.

“Look at last year with Hibs. They went on a good run and they ended up finishing third.

“It’s important to put winning runs and unbeaten runs in the league. But we can’t take our foot off the gas.

“It’s a busy Christmas period with a lot of points to fight for, so we need to keep going.”

Shinnie led by example in comeback win

The Dons skipper’s introduction from the bench at half-time on Sunday was pivotal in Aberdeen recovering from a goal down to beat Killie at Pittodrie.

Shinnie brought drive, energy and a sense of urgency to proceedings which was absent during the first half as the Dons found themselves trailing to the visitors.

He said: “I watched the first half, and I thought it was just a little bit tentative.

“We had plenty of possession of the ball, but we were playing in front of them a bit too much and they were pressing well.

“We didn’t have many shots in the first half either. It was a bit too possession-based without really doing anything.

“Kilmarnock were comfortable with that, and they were dangerous going forward as well.

“If it wasn’t for Dimitar Mitov with a big save towards the end of the first half, we go in 2-0 down and it’s a bit of a tougher fight in the second half.

“The atmosphere was a little bit down, which is expected after Thursday night (Conference League defeat to French side Strasbourg).

“It just had that little bit of that feel about it, you know.”

‘We needed more energy’

Even though they left it late to get their two goals, the captain was pleased to see the low-key first half showing eradicated by a significant improvement after the break.

Shinnie said: “So when I came in at half-time, I just said to them: ‘We need to start putting in behind them more, making them defend, get crosses into the box.’

“We just needed to bring a bit more energy and put pressure on them.

“It was just a case of trying to pick up the energy and pick up the fight and start creating more, start putting pressure on their back-line more.

“I thought we did that in the second half. We had a lot of chances – I had a good one myself that I missed.

“But we created a lot of chances, and when you do that, you give yourself a chance of winning the game – and we’ve got the two goals that we needed to win the game.”

Dons skipper wants to sign off on European campaign with a win

Aberdeen’s attention now switches to their final European game of the season, Thursday’s Conference League tie at Sparta Prague.

Dons boss Thelin is expected to ring the changes for the trip to Czechia, but Shinnie believes whoever plays will be focused on trying to end the campaign with a first league phase victory.

The captain said: “It’s disappointing that there isn’t anything on the game. We had a tough draw in Europe, but the way we played in some of the games, maybe you could have done more, but it is what it is.

“But now Thursday is just a game we can go and enjoy and try and do as well as we can in. It’ll be a tough game, naturally, but one in Europe that you’ve got to look forward to.

“If there are changes to the team, then boys need to be ready because it could be a chance for them to show what they can do.

“It’s always important games. It’s never not important, and for this one, it could be maybe (one) for boys that maybe haven’t been playing as much to show what they can do.

“No matter what game we go into, we want to win the game, and it would be important for us now to rest and recover and look forward to the game.

”It’s one that, it’s nothing that we’re going to take our foot off the gas. We’re ready to go. We want to do well in the game.

“Whatever the team may be, it’s an opportunity in Europe to go and show what you can do.”

[Source: Press and Journal]