Liam Scales insists Aberdeen’s confidence is sky-high and they will prove it by finally taking points off Rangers.
The Dons are one of the form teams in the country after Friday’s victory at Ross County made it six wins on the bounce. Under Barry Robson they now look a far different proposition to the side that struggled under Jim Goodwin and have gone from bottom six to clear in third place.
The Pittodrie side, however, will face one of their toughest challenges next Sunday when Michael Beale’s Rangers head to the Granite City. The Reds took the Light Blues to extra-time in the League Cup semi-finals before losing and were winning 2-1 before a late stoppage-time collapse cost them the points at home in the last league clash.
Defender Scales said: “I think we can get a result this time. When we played them in the semi-final we were very close and at Pittodrie in the last league game it was tight. We were 2-1 up with two minutes to go and lost.
“We have shown we can do well against them. They are obviously a top side and are clear in second. It is a big ask but the run we are on gives us confidence that we can get points off them.”
Aberdeen went into the World Cup break in third but a horror run saw them plunge down the table, costing Goodwin his job.
At that point, their hopes of being the best of the rest looked to be out of reach – before Robson came in and got them back on the up. On-loan Celtic stopper Scales said: “I think we always had it in us. It is hard when you are down and you are losing games. To turn it around like we have, we just needed a kick to get us going.
“The confidence is just sky-high and that is the difference at the moment. We started so well then had a big drop off after the World Cup break. We had a few tough fixtures in a row, plus we were unlucky and also poor at times.
“It has completely turned around again and this is now the best run of form that we’ve had all season and we are where we want to be.”
Robson lost his first game in charge but followed it up with a victory over Motherwell and Scales reckons that Pittodrie triumph was pivotal. He said: “When Barry came in the St Mirren game didn’t go for us but then it all clicked against Motherwell here.
“We completely dominated and we thought if we played like that every week then we knew we would have a good chance of getting points and climbing up the table.”
The springboard for Aberdeen’s revival has been shoring things up at the back, with five clean sheets out of six helping to set them on a path to European football.
Irishman Scales claimed: “It is different – the systems, the manager and the players. It is hard to put our finger on it but we are working harder and running more right across the pitch. The wing backs and the back three will take credit for the clean sheets because that is our job but I think it comes from all over the pitch.
“It is a chain reaction from the strikers – Duk, Bojan (Miovski) and Marley (Watkins) when he gets on. They press high and the midfielders cover all over the place. The distances (Graeme) Shinnie and (Ylber) Ramadani cover are amazing.
“Due to that higher intensity we are not defending as much as we used to. We look tighter and confidence plays a big part in that.”
Aberdeen are keen to keep Scales long-term but the 24-year-old insists that will be a decision for the Hoops. He said: “I am only looking towards the end of the season. I will need to report back to Celtic and see what the story is from there. They are in control of all that. It is out of my hands.”
READ NEXT
