Aberdeen boss Stephen Glass was pleased to reflect on three important points for his side as they beat a stubborn Livingston side 2-0 at Pittodrie.
“In the first half, we were excellent, but when you go in only a goal up, you know there’s still some danger there. The way we started the second half wasn’t great, we invited them into the game a touch, but when they went down to ten men, that certainly helped.
“The players know they could have been better second half, but that’s the level of honesty we get from them, they’re hungry boys, wanting to do well. They put demands on themselves and I think you saw second half that they weren’t particularly pleased with some of the performance but that response is good to see.
“For instance, Ryan knows he could have scored two or three goals tonight so he’s a bit disappointed with himself, even though he did get on the scoresheet. I like to see that, that determination to set high standards, because that’s what we want from our players.”
It was Hedges who gave the Dons the first half lead with a call that came straight out of Cormack.
“We did a lot of work in training this week, talking about getting around the second balls, getting it forward quickly when we won it and then being clinical when we get in the box and all of that came together in the first goal. I’m pleased for the players because they’ve done a lot of work on that in a short time this week. A lot of it was from video because we couldn’t get on the grass too much, but they’ve taken on board what we asked of them and it’s come to fruition.
“Livingston are a big team, they throw the ball into the box when they can and they cause problems and you have to be on your guard against it. But I thought the boys defended brilliantly and we limited them to very little, so we’re pleased with the clean sheet. I was pleased David got a goal because he was brilliant defensively, as was Ross, and that goal was a good reward for him.
“A lot of what Jay did for us tonight was in our own box too, when things were getting hurled in from set pieces. He’s very good defensively for us in that respect. Up the pitch, he can be a frustrating character at times because he tries to make things happen and because of that, you take the rough with the smooth.
“We know what he’s capable of doing, and I was happy with the big man’s performance. He’s waited his turn to get in and he contributed greatly to a big win tonight.”
It’s a quick turnaround from here for the game against St. Mirren on Saturday, but Glass is looking for the team to build some momentum as we head into the busy December schedule.
“We look to be positive and we look to win games. The boys know the pressures that come with playing for Aberdeen and they know everyone is looking for six points from these two home games. We’ve done the first part of the job and we will now work on finishing it off at the weekend.
“It’s important that we look at what’s above us, that we be positive and that we look at closing the gap to the next team above us and then that we keep doing that. We only do that by winning games.”
