Three wins from three games saw Stephen Robinson satisfied with how his new-look Aberdeen have set about the season so far, after winning 4-1 at Queen of the South.
“We huffed and puffed a little bit in the first half, and we got punished for a mistake in midfield. Their goal was frustrating, and I've made myself very clear on that there. We have to come out with the ball in the first tackle and the second tackle. If you don't, then you get punished.
“But the reaction was very good. When I came here, the character of the players was questioned. Playing for Aberdeen, you need to be able to manage pressure. The expectation is to win and win comfortably every game. The reality is that doesn't always happen. So you have to stand up and be counted, and we did that tonight.
“At half-time, we said we needed to move the ball quicker. We needed to get behind them more, and they did that. It was total domination in the second half, doing the simple things better than they did. Very, very good in the second half, very good in the first half on Saturday against Queen’s Park. So now we just need to put the two together!
“Both wide men struggled a little bit tonight with the surface. It was very, very sticky. It was a game where you just need to get in behind people, you don't need to dribble behind them. If you put balls in the box, as we did in the second half, you score goals. I get annoyed when we refuse crosses - just deliver good quality balls. But we learned from the first half and applied it in the second half.
“When you've got somebody like Kevin in the box, he reminds me of Lawrence Shankland. Deliver balls, they score goals. And we didn't do that often enough in the first half. We hit the first man and we didn't pick people out. And as soon as we improved our quality, we got in behind and you know Kevin's going to be there. And that's why we like Ayub as well. He's always in the box. Between the two of them, we believe we can score goals.”
There were some strong performances from the bench, emphasising the strength of the squad that the Dons are currently building.
“People wait for their opportunities and have to take them. Toyosi was outstanding when he came on. He's an absolute handful out wide as well. KJ did really well when he came on as well. Stuart Armstrong, he doesn't panic. Ayoub could have had three goals, so, yeah, a big impact from the squad. That's what we need. That's what we want.
“And we had a great support again, coming all the way down here. Two incredible trips for them, we couldn't have picked any worse trips in terms of distance. But to see the numbers again tonight and not getting home to three o'clock in the morning, it's fantastic. And it's very much appreciated. It costs a lot of money to watch football and travel. So believe me, we don't take that for granted. They stuck with the players as well, so big credit to them tonight.”
The Dons need just a point against Kelty Hearts on Saturday to progress in the competition, but Robinson will be demanding a fourth straight win, as he made clear.
“As Aberdeen manager, you have to win every game. It's relentless. The expectation is relentless and we have to meet that. We've done that so far without probably completing 90 minutes on our top form, which, after three and a half weeks, is expected. But we've done what we needed to do, showing glimpses of quality, showing good organisation at times. Now we need to win the game on Saturday.”
