Barry Robson has told his Euro-chasing Aberdeen stars they have achieved nothing yet and still need to finish the job of sealing third.
Hearts turned up the heat on the Dons with their weekend win at Tynecastle but the Pittodrie side still have a two-point lead going into the final games. And Robson reckons the return of star trio Graeme Shinnie, Ross McCrorie and Duk can help get them over the line. If Aberdeen beat St Mirren at home tomorrow and Rangers see off Hearts it would clinch third.
The Dons have failed to win since the split but Robson reckons most people would love to be in their position, having trailed Hearts by a hefty margin when he took over from Jim Goodwin. He said: “If you ask anyone, anywhere, to go from nine points behind to two in front – we’re doing all right. We’re not finished, we’re not there – the players know that and I know that.
"But we have players coming back to help us on Wednesday – Shinnie, Duk and McCrorie. We were frustrated at Hearts but we move on and get ready for St Mirren now because it’s an opportunity to get three points.”
Robson knows they can’t take anything for granted against a St Mirren side who beat them last time out at Pittodrie. It was Robson’s first game in interim charge and they lost 3-1 after McCrorie’s early red card.
The Buddies will be travelling north looking for the win that could take them up to fifth, which would potentially claim the last European spot. McCrorie is back in full training after a hernia operation, while Duk should be available after a hamstring problem and Shinnie comes back from suspension.
A sickness bug also hampered Aberdeen’s chances at Tynecastle but Robson is hopeful there will be no such problems tomorrow. He added: “We come back at home against St Mirren with arguably three of our best players.”
“They will come back with a freshness to help the boys here. Angus MacDonald had to come off with a stomach bug, Leighton Clarkson wasn’t feeling great and we lost Hayden Coulson on Saturday morning.”
Robson feels his side haven’t had a fair crack of the whip from VAR in recent weeks, insisting they should have had a penalty when Bojan Miovski was fouled inside the box at Tynecastle. The Dons boss said: “We need referees to make good decisions. We didn’t get a lot on Saturday and it was really frustrating.
“I got booked, which hasn’t happened before, but it was because of the frustration at getting things wrong. We don’t count on VAR and I don’t think I have had a decision yet since I have been in post. That hasn’t been easy for us either but we move on.”
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