Jimmy Thelin wants Aberdeen to "show their identity" as he challenged his squad to bounce back from their first Scottish Premiership loss of his tenure.
Richard Taylor's close-range header earned St Mirren the victory on home turf to continue a six-year unbeaten league run against Aberdeen in Paisley.
Toyosi Olusanya opened the scoring on 19 minutes, running onto a long ball and firing beyond Dons goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov.
Jamie McGrath temporarily levelled proceedings shortly after the interval, but the hosts arguably got what they deserved following several missed chances when Taylor sealed the three points for the Buddies with seven minutes remaining.
It was a blow for Thelin, who has exceeded expectations since stepping into the Pittodrie hot seat over the summer. However, he understands there will be knocks in the road and it will be more telling how his players react during the forthcoming fixtures.
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“We have done really good things this season and the most important thing is what happens in the next game," the Aberdeen boss admitted after the game.
“Now we prepare ourselves for the game against Hibernian. That’s the focus we need to have.
“It is a long season and every opponent is good but we focus on ourselves on what we can improve from this day.
“Some parts of the game we have to do better for the future, that is important for us – that we show our identity on the pitch. It is football and sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose.
“St Mirren came out better in the first half than us and were better in the second ball situations and in 50-50 duels.
“There were moments when we were a little unbalanced but St Mirren were sharp in the transitions.
“In the second half we started really well and created good momentum and scored. After that the game got more open and St Mirren were a little more sharper in the critical moments.”
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The Aberdeen team had travelled down to the Central Belt on Friday night to avoid getting caught up in the travel chaos caused by Storm Bert. But supporters endured a difficult journey from the Granite City with some even turning back and cutting their losses.
The kick-off time was moved back an hour from the traditional 3pm start to allow volunteers the time to finish clearing the snow from the pitch at the SMISA Stadium, and Thelin was grateful of all those who managed to cheer his team on despite the adverse conditions affecting the country.
He said: “We were aligned, everybody wanted to play the game so we were happy when it started but not with the result,” he added.
“It was a long trip for many people in bad conditions. The fans supported us the full game and after it too – we wanted a good result for them.”
Thelin's men face bottom side Hibernian on Tuesday night in their second of three consecutive away matches.
On the importance of returning to winning ways immediately, the 46-year-old told Red TV: "We travel back to Aberdeen, reload and focus on the right things. It's football. You know I always go one game by game because you are going to win games and you are going to lose games, and you are going to play to a draw sometimes. Most importantly, we want to be consistent in what we are doing and now we take the next challenge."
