Declan Gallagher spoke to RedTV to preview Saturday’s game against Livingston:

Spirit

“Obviously after the Ross County game the mood around Cormack Park was not great. You can imagine how it was. There was huge disappointment missing out on the top six. But everyone has come back this week, everyone has got together and there is a better mood in the camp now and we know that we have to go out and do the business on the park this weekend.

“It is massively disappointing. A club like Aberdeen should not be in this situation.

“It was the responsibility of the senior players such as myself, Joe, David, Jonny, to lift all the boys. We have experienced disappointment in our careers before. The bottom six is not a nice place to be but we have to make sure everyone is still doing the right things and we have to lift the spirits again. There are big games coming up and we need to be ready for them. Everyone has been working very hard in training.

What has gone wrong?

“It’s hard to put your figure it. There has been a lot of criticism about how we have played but there have been a lot of games this season where we have had more of the ball, we have created most chances, we have let the opposition have very few chances – dominated the games in many cases, but silly mistakes have killed us and we have not taken our chances at the other end of the pitch.

“That has really hurt us this season.

“As a defender five cleansheets is not good enough. And the midfielders and strikers will feel that we have not scored enough goals. That has also cost us massively this season.

“The last two games are a good example of what I am saying.

“Against Dundee we take the lead twice but we don’t manage the game properly. Last weekend against Ross County was an example of a game where we dominated possession and had 14 attempts on goals compared with their three. And they win the game 1-0. We only take one point from the two games. It is fine margins, but we have to start keeping clean sheets and taking our chances.

“The players shoulder most of the responsibility. The manager picks the team, but we are the ones who have to do it on the pitch. The manager can’t change much once we cross that white line. He gives us the trust when we go out there and it is about time we started repaying that trust by getting results.

Final five games

“People have said the fixtures have fallen kindly for us with the first two games at home, but that does not matter. It is what we put into the game that is important. We have to 100% focussed on winning the game on Saturday.

“We have to have the correct mindset. The next five games are going to be a battle. It is not going to be pretty. We have to be right up for it every game.

“I played at Livingston for a long time, I know what their manager is like and how he sets his teams out. They are hard working teams, they will match you all over the park and if you are not up for that battle then it can be a long afternoon. You have to give them respect because they have also played some good football over the past couple of years as well. So we know exactly what we are up against and we have been working towards that in training.

“We will be fully prepared for the game on Saturday.

Next season

“We are just focusing on ourselves and finishing the season as strongly as possible.

“It has been a poor season, there is no getting away from that, but we want to finish on a high by getting as many wins as we can so we can take some momentum into next season.

“We can’t change anything now. We are where we are. We have to get on with trying to get a win on Saturday. We have to give the fans some encouragement for next season. As I say it is all about building for next season right now and we need to start that process by winning these final games.

“Some players are fighting to be involved in international setups. Players are fighting to win new contracts. Others are fighting to get into the starting XI. Everyone should be trying to impress, even if it just for your own pride. We all want to finish the season strongly so everyone should be fighting as hard as they can and that starts this Saturday.

“Since the manager has come in I have played every game under him. We have had some very good chats. He has brought the confidence back in me that I maybe lost for six months. It is great to play under him. I like the philosophy of the way he wants to play with the high press.

“Once we get this campaign finished I am really looking forward to next season and seeing what changes the manager makes and he will obviously have his first transfer window as well. It is a new era for the club I believe and I one I want to be part of.”