Aberdeen skipper Graeme Shinnie was a frustrated figure when he spoke to the press after the defeat at home to St Mirren.

“Obviously the red card had a massive bearing on the game, having to play for so long with ten men. We dug in deep after that but to concede three goals again is very frustrating. If they cut you open with the extra man, that’s one thing, but at set pieces, the extra man shouldn’t really matter. We lost two goals that way and for the other goal, it was too easy to take a touch and turn to volley it without any pressure on him.

“The majority of the game we had a lot of fight in us, we defended crosses really well, I thought Angus and Mattie, having just got here and never played together, they defended really well. As they get to know each other more, they’ll get better and better. But it’s small moments in games that are killing us just now. After working so hard, getting it back to 1-1, to then lose it the way we did is hard to take.

“Everyone knows the last few games have been unacceptable. We definitely showed a lot more fight, we defended better as a team, but still we’ve let in three poor goals from our point of view. You can’t concede three goals and hope to win games.

“The supporters have been absolutely brilliant through an unacceptable period from us. We understand their frustration, but we have to stand up and fight through this period. We can only focus on Saturday and winning that game and starting to turn things round.

“The schedule has been tough the last few weeks, we’ve not had much time to get on the training pitch with so many midweek games, it’s been more about recovery. The next couple of days will be the same, so it is difficult to work on things.

“I hadn’t really thought about being captain before the game, but it’s a massive honour and privilege at this club. And if someone else has the armband after this, I’ll always try to act the same way and try to be a leader.”