Reynolds looking to keep Celtic in sight
MARK Reynolds has urged Aberdeen to keep leaders Celtic firmly in their sights entering the winter break.
Saturday’s 3-0 loss at Parkhead, coupled with yesterday’s victory for the Scottish champions over Dundee, saw the Pittodrie side slip 11 points behind.
Three clear of Rangers in second place, however, Reynolds believes wins over Partick Thistle tonight and then Hearts on Saturday would create a chance to hit the reset button during a stint of winter training in Dubai.
‘We are still in a good place in the league and the Partick game is a chance to claim another huge three points,’ said Reynolds.
‘Then we have Hearts which will take us into the new year, so they are two massive games.
‘We need to take maximum points and make sure we are sitting in second place come the end of the year. Then we can get the winter break and enjoy it.
‘We want to keep sight of Celtic for as long as we can. All we can do is continue trying to collect the points as it’s getting busy below us, as well.
‘There are teams creeping up the way, so it’s going to be an interesting fight for the remainder of the season in terms of who is going to finish in the top three or four.
‘We have always done well over this period and it’s set us up well — and we would like to do the same again.’
Aberdeen’s defeat to Celtic followed a recent pattern. Consistently the second-best team in Scotland, the final step has proven beyond them since the arrival of Brendan Rodgers as Parkhead boss.
‘It’s hard,’ admitted Reynolds.
‘It’s: “Could I, should I or would I? If Celtic did this or we did that...” You would kill yourself if you sat and looked at all the permutations.’
The ‘what ifs’ are not constrained to games against Celtic. Back-to-back defeats to Rangers home and away blew a chance to apply pressure on the champions and prompted the natural suspicion that Aberdeen were affected on some level by the rampant speculation over Derek McInnes and a move to Ibrox.
‘I don’t think it ever affected us,’ countered Reynolds. ‘But from the outside looking in, I can see how a case can be made for that given how the results went and how they’ve gone since.
‘Maybe subconsciously there was something but it was never recognised or spoken about. It was never something we ever felt was an issue.’
Asked what happened in the two games against Rangers, Reynolds joked: ‘I wasn’t playing, that was the main thing!
‘It was one of those things. There was uncertainly about but we felt focused and ready.
‘It was two poor performances and they’re in the past now. It is what it is and we have dusted ourselves down and have since kicked on. We are lucky that we have managed to put points on the board, so it hasn’t affected us too much.’ By his own standards, Reynolds has had a disappointing campaign, flitting in and out of the Dons starting XI. Mustering just three league appearances since mid-October, the emergence of Scott McKenna has impacted the former Motherwell man more than anyone.
‘It’s been a disappointing season so far for me,’ he admitted. ‘I am used to playing every week. So it’s been disappointing to have to watch from the side.
‘I just have to get my head down and work hard so that I’m ready. I think I put in a good performance against Celtic. I managed to play the full 90 minutes and do okay.
‘All I can do is work hard and give the manager a decision to make.
‘I’ve worked hard in the gym and with the fitness coach, so when I get my chance I can go in and do a job to keep myself into contention.’
Partick Thistle climbed off the bottom of the Premiership with victory over Hamilton. Reynolds acknowledges the threat of former Aberdeen striker Miles Storey, but sees danger in other areas unless Aberdeen are on their game.
‘Partick have good players all across the park and, on their day, they can beat anyone,’ he said.
‘We take it as a huge compliment that teams raise their game as it’s a big game for them against us. We want to go into every match concentrated and focused as we don’t want to trip ourselves up.
‘It’s a tough game but we want a good performance and to get those three points that we need.’