Manager Jim Goodwin spoke to the media on Thursday lunchtime to preview Saturday’s trip to play Hibernian at Easter Road. To watch in full on RedTV, please click on the red button.

Question: Last season Hibs didn’t have the campaign that they would have wanted, the same with Aberdeen, it has been a similar transition for both teams hasn’t it?

Answer: “I was saying similar to the written journalists earlier on that ourselves and Hibs probably had a very similar summer in terms of the big turnover of players and trying to get your ideas across. We were probably very much in transition because we both had an extremely disappointing campaign last year. I’m delighted with the way things are going at the moment for us. We’re on a decent run of form. We’re unbeaten in our last four games. We’ve only lost two in the last 11 games that we’ve played this season competitively and we have got a quarter-final in the League Cup to look forward to as well next month. So we’re not doing too badly.

“We’ve made huge progress from where we were last season, certainly from when I first came in back in February, and the group deserve to be praised for that, albeit it is still very early days. Saturday is another big challenge, a tough task. I think Hibs are a decent team. I don’t think they’re on a great run of form at the moment, but they certainly do have players in their ranks that can cause you a lot of problems, particularly in the forward areas. They’ve got very good pace, and creativity. We have to be at our best on Saturday to get a win that we want, but we’re in a very good mindset going into it.”

Q: Hibs went through a transition in the summer and are arguably still still finding their feet and Lee Johnson as well is new to Scottish football. Given all of that does it make it a bit harder to plan for what challenges Hibs will present?

A: “They’ve got a very big squad of players available to them and due to injuries and other bits and pieces, I don’t think it’s been the most settled in terms of the starting 11. It is sometimes hard to predict when you’re playing against a team like that what the opposition is going to be. We have been relatively consistent throughout the course of the season right from the start of the League Cup campaign. I’ve been quite stringent in terms of the team that we’ve played. We haven’t made too many changes week to week. We’ll just have to plan and prepare for every outcome really. I haven’t seen any injury news or suspension news for them other than Rocky Bushiri potentially coming back into consideration but they’ve got enough in their ranks. Whatever team Lee Johnson decides to go with, it will be a very good competitive starting 11, there’s no doubt about that.”

Q: You had a reinforced break last weekend, was it quite good to have a period of time just to work with the guys on the training pitch?

A: “It can work both ways. I mean, it certainly did for us. We didn’t want the break. We were looking forward to playing Rangers. I felt that we were in a very good place at the time, we were on a good run of form and Rangers weren’t and haven’t been after defeat last night. We were looking forward to the game. I think we had pretty much sold out Pittodrie as well, so there would have been a great atmosphere there that weekend. We did also have a few little niggles in the squad. So a couple of those guys were quite happy not to play and have to play through the pain barrier. So it allowed us to give those guys a bit of a rest and thankfully they’ve all recovered fully now and are available for the weekend. We’re not bothered either way. We understand why it was postponed. We trained as normal. We played a game among ourselves on Saturday morning to try to continue that match day feeling and the guy’s got the Sunday off and we were back at it on Monday.”

Q: Saturday’s game has got all the hall marks of a terrific tussle between two teams that in pre-season many of us would expect it to have been right in the thick of the battle for third place. How much are you looking forward to it?

A: “Hibs are a big team historically in the Scottish Premier League. They had a bit of a disappointing campaign last year and had a couple of changes in manager and Lee Johnson is in the seat now. There has been quite a big turnaround of players, both incoming and outgoing, a similar situation to ourselves in the summer, but I’m delighted with the progress that we have made. I’m not really concerned too much about what’s going on at Hibs, to be perfectly honest. I’m pretty sure Lee Johnson would say the same. My focus is always on Aberdeen and how we can improve Aberdeen and we always respect the level of opposition that we’re coming up against. I said when I took over in February that the aim of the game was to get Aberdeen back to the top of the table and to be competing in the cups. At the moment we’re sitting third in the table, which is where we want to be as a minimum requirement this season. We’re in the quarter-finals of the League Cup. We’re ticking along nicely at the moment, albeit its still very early days. A couple of poor results one way or a couple of wins the other way. It can have huge impacts on how the league table looks. We just have to try and not get too bogged down about what’s happening at our football clubs. We just focus on the job in hand for Aberdeen and I think the players have done that brilliantly up to now and hopefully that will remain the case of the weekend.”

Q: No team is a one man band, as it were, but how important is it to keep Martin Boyle as quiet as possible?

A: “Martin has proven over recent seasons that he’s a match winner for Hibs. I think if you look back at the contribution that he’s made over the last two or three seasons in terms of his involvement in match winning goals or assists and key moments in games, he’ll be right up there. When he came out the team to go to Saudi Arabia, I actually think you saw a real dip in form for Hibs because that’s how influential he was on their team. We know the threat that he possesses, we know he’s a good player. We will not focus too much on him because I think Hibs as a team have got other players as well that can hurt you. I’m pretty sure Lee Johnson and his staff and his players will be concerned about one or two of our guys as well because we’ve got a few boys in our ranks at the moment who are playing extremely well, particularly the guys at the top end of the pitch. The likes of Miovski, Jonny Hayes and Besuijen have been among the goals lately. As I said we will try and focus solely on what we can do to the opposition. We always give them the respect that they deserve, doing the relevant analysis that’s required in the modern day game, but at the same time I don’t want my guys getting too bogged down worrying about opposition players, let’s focus on what we’re good at. I think if we played at the levels that we’re capable of, then we can cause Hibs a lot of problems.”

Q: You’ve rightly praised the Aberdeen support this season, particularly on the road and it’s wonderful to see that an expectant Red Army of 2,500 is going to be packing into the away end at Easter Road. What difference does that make to the boys?

A: “It makes a huge difference. At the risk of repeating myself for the last few weeks when I’m complimenting them and their support and the encouragement that they’ve given to the team, both here at Pittodrie, but particularly on the road. The level of expense that’s required to be travelling and paying for buses, trains, car journeys, all of those types of things, it’s a very expensive day. We’re very aware of that and especially in what’s difficult financial times for a lot of people out there at the moment. The Aberdeen supporters always seem to find the money to go and support our team and we as a club, not just my staff and my players, but as a club as a whole are greatly appreciative of that. We don’t take it for granted. We don’t just assume that they will be there. I think they’re relatively pleased with what they’ve seen from their team up to now this season. I think they’ll be satisfied with where we are in the table, and obviously we have a quarter-final to look forward to next month. They’ve helped us to turn the corner. We want to repay them for their commitment to the club.”