Graeme Shinnie insists Aberdeen must grab the bull by the horns to ensure that their season doesn’t go south.
The Dons sit fifth in the Premiership table, nine points off third spot Hearts. The Jambos destroyed the Pittodrie outfit last midweek 5-0 in what was a humiliating and ultimately damaging night for Jim Goodwin and his players.
While they are still very much within a shout of finishing in the European spots, equally, Hibs and St Mirren are hot on their tails. If results don’t pick up, then they could be in danger of another season in the bottom six.
That’s why Shinnie is determined to make sure he and his teammates maintain a strong mentality and bounce back from result disappointments. That starts tonight with a tricky Scottish Cup tie against big spenders Darvel.
He said: “Pressure comes in football in general. I’m 31 now and I’ve been in football a long time. Pressure still comes on me. I’m not happy with my performance on Wednesday and put pressure on myself to do better and play better.
“As a team there is always a pressure to play well and win games. That’s football in general no matter where you are. If you can’t handle that pressure you shouldn’t be in football. It’s about having the confidence in your own ability and doing the business on the pitch.
“For us as a squad it’s about dealing with the next few games and turning the form around.
“I’ve only been in for three games and the first two were very good. The performance was very good against St Johnstone and we could have been two or three up at half-time.
“We weren’t but stuck with it and won the game 2-0.
“We moved onto the Rangers game which was a gruelling game and one we put so much into. We fell just short but we had chances. Leighton Clarkson hit the post late on and we could potentially have won.
“But the other night was unacceptable and never will be at Aberdeen. It’s about putting in performances but also turning the fortunes around.
“It’s tough but we can definitely do it starting on Monday and then try to build on it at Hibs in the next league game.
“We as players need to go there and perform. It’s a game we need to go and do a professional job in and perform to our full confidence. We have to perform well, play to our full potential and not concede sloppy goals. It’s a game we can win if we do that.
“I don’t know what the Darvel players will be thinking. They could think it is a confidence booster for them and they can do the same or it might be one of those where they are expecting a reaction from us because we’ve been beaten 5-0.
“We won’t think about Darvel. We think about ourselves and playing to our full potential and getting the win.”
