The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Dons have no excuses
AFC: LewiscallsforAberdeenimprovementafterlacklustredisplayagainstWell
Aberdeen goalkeeper Joe Lewis admitted Saturday’s showing against Motherwell was one of the Dons’ worst displays during his time at Pittodrie.
Louis Moult scored twice as the Steelmen recorded a comfortable 2-0 victory to set them up nicely for Sunday’s Betfred Cup final against Celtic.
The defeat means the Dons have taken only four points from a possible 12 ahead of a busy stretch with nine games to play before the end of December.
Lewis said: “This period can shape our season. We just need to make sure we put that performance to the back of our minds. It wasn’t like us.
“In the time I’ve been here there’s only been a handful that have been like that. We need to make sure we bounce back against Kilmarnock on Sunday.
“We were extremely frustrated after the game as we didn’t perform anywhere near to the level that we know we can.”
Lewis said the continued speculation linking manager Derek McInnes with the Rangers managerial vacancy has had nothing to do with his side’s dip in form and said: “I don’t think so. As a group of players, we’re professional enough to get on with that. There’s no excuse for that level of performance and that’s certainly not one.”
However, the goalkeeper accepted his side missed the driving force of captain Graeme Shinnie, who was suspended for Saturday’s match.
Lewis said: “He’s one of our best players. You’re going to miss him but we’re a strong enough squad to deal with that. You can’t lay the blame completely on missing one player. He’s an important part of the team and he will be missed when he’s not playing but the players on the pitch should have been a lot better than they were, and it was a bad day at the office.”
Meanwhile, Dons manager McInnes says he is keen to speak to Niall McGinn about a possible return to Pittodrie after the Northern Ireland international terminated his contract with South Korean side Gwangju.
He said: “I’m always drawn to working with players who have done well for you in the past and if it was the case that Niall was keen to come back to Scotland we could be interested.
“We feel we have a good relationship with Niall as he has with everybody at the club, so I think we could be interested, and I know other clubs have said they would be. It would certainly be worth a conversation.”
“Makesure webounce backagainst Kilmarnock”