Stephen Robinson met with the media on Friday morning ahead of Saturday's game against Kelty Hearts in the Premier Sports Cup.
RedTV subscribers can watch the press conference now.
Saturday at Pittodrie
“Another chance to get the three points, make sure we go through to the next stages of the cup and another chance to continue doing what we’re doing – improving, working on things in and out of possession, getting people game time and making sure they’re ready to go for Saturday as well.
“You have to win the game, but you also have to make sure a lot of the squad are ready rather than just ten or eleven players.
“I believe that’s important (being seeded). Obviously, you get a supposedly easier draw, although nothing’s easy in football now, but we want to be one of the seeded teams.
“When you play for Aberdeen, you’ve got to win every single game. We set out to do that and we aim to do that on Saturday."
The Dons XI
“I’ll look at the freshness of everybody. Obviously it was a long journey on Wednesday, getting back early Thursday morning, so I’ll see how everybody is this morning and then we’ll make decisions on the team from there.
“If I take a look at everybody and we lose the game, I think there’s only one person who gets the blame.
“As I say, as Aberdeen manager you need to win football matches, so anybody I look at will deserve to be looked at and will deserve their chance.
“We have to win and we want to win. There will be changes, of course, but they won’t be wholesale. We’ll keep the vast majority of the starting XI together and add people who I think are right on the verge of things to give them an opportunity, while making sure we’ve got people game ready."
A different challenge next week
“We’ve watched Hearts in the European game and I’ll go and watch them again midweek, but the sole focus is this one.
“It’s a different game and a different test. We’ll have a lot more of the ball than we probably will in Premiership games, so we have to focus on what’s in front of us. I don’t think you look too far ahead at this stage.
“A hard game. Everybody I speak to in football says it’s a tough challenge because it’s a big game for the other teams. It’s a huge game to play against Aberdeen at Pittodrie, so we have to be mentally prepared for that.
“You can’t go into any game at 90 per cent or you’ll get a shock. That’s why the TV cameras were there on Wednesday and why they’re there on Saturday. They want the shock and we have to make sure we’re not on the end of that by doing things right."
Team news
“Kenan Bilalovic I don't think will be quite be ready to go. He got a bang on his back in training, so unfortunately, he won’t be ready.
“So far I think everybody else is okay. Everybody came through the game okay. There are no real new injuries. Dan Happe had a little bit of cramp, the astroturf pitch didn’t really help. Afeez Aremu had a little groin strain, but they’ve all come through it.
“They’ll do a light session today in preparation for tomorrow."
The transfer window and the type of player we need
“We’d have a squad of about 500 if I commented on everybody we were linked with.
“As I’ve repeated consistently, every manager is looking to strengthen in certain areas. If the right player comes up, then we’ll look at it, but at this stage we’re still looking.
“Milanovic will leave and that's confirmed, so that’s another player out.
“Mila was a great lad and I got on really well with him. He didn’t play last season because we didn’t play with wingers and he made it clear that he wanted to go and play elsewhere.
“As I’ve already reiterated, I want people who are 100 per cent committed to Aberdeen. We had an opportunity and thought it was good for both parties, so it’s as simple as that. We wish him well.
“Scottish football is hard to play in. You need more than technical ability. You have to have the fight and the drive and be able to cope with playing in Scotland. It’s a hard league.
“A lot of people have come here and failed, not through lack of ability, but sometimes certain situations suit you and sometimes they don’t.
“It’s equally as important. Everybody we’re looking at to come to Aberdeen Football Club has talent, there’s no question about that.
“The question is whether they can use that talent and whether those skills are transferable from the league they’re coming from.
“That’s something I’ve tried to bring into the recruitment process. Does the league they’re coming from replicate Scottish football? We’ve seen people come here and really struggle, then go to other leagues and do really, really well.
“What they do in other leagues has to be assessed to see whether it can be transferred to Scottish football."
The captaincy
“We’ll change it again on Saturday. We’ve got four or five boys who I believe lead the football club, lead the dressing room and lead the standards, and that’s the way we want it.
“Somebody will be named for the Hearts game to lead the team and that’ll stay like that for the season, but the boys all understand that while one person wears the armband, we’ve got a leadership group that is going to run the football club, so to speak.
“When the manager makes all the rules, it’s like when your mum and dad make rules – you want to break them, don’t you? It’s important that the players adhere to what they think the standards are and what we believe the standards are for being successful at this club."
Bringing players in and moving some on
“He’s one of many players I’ve looked at (Jadel Katongo), but discussing other people’s players isn’t something I make a habit of doing.
“There’s a long list of players we’re looking at. I get new players put to me every day from the recruitment team and Lutz. You have to take everything in, then see what best suits us, what’s available and what’s doable.
“We’ve got too many players. We’ve made no secret of that. I want a squad of 23/24 outfield players.
“That’s something that’s ongoing. The boys are working hard on that in the background. Lutz has done a very good job so far in bringing money into the football club and moving players out, so that’s ongoing."
The Premiership season
“I’ll tell you on Saturday about eight or nine o’clock whether I’m ready for it.
“We’ve got a lot of good players in. I believe we’ve changed a lot of things in a very short period of time. There’s still lots of work to do, of course.
“It does take a little bit of time to gel together. The atmosphere around the club, which I’ve spoken about, has completely changed and there’s a clear direction of travel.
“People always say, “If it doesn’t make the boat go forward, don’t do it,” and people are now trying to push that boat forward in the same direction rather than different directions. I believe we’re making good strides."
Kevin Nisbet
“We really reiterated that at half-time. We weren’t delivering enough balls into him or getting him in behind often enough.
“As soon as you do that, we’re confident Kevin will score goals, and he did that.
“Even when Kevin maybe isn’t having his best game, you always know he’ll be in and around and give you the chance of a goal. That’s priceless in a team. It’s something I’ve not had before, a natural goalscorer.
“Scoring goals early in the season is great. I think he’s on five already. He got 11 last season, so he’s well on the way to catching that already. Long may that continue.”
