Stewart insists daring Dons have no regrets
ANTHONY STEWART insists Aberdeen won’t change their approach to games against Rangers despite being blown away in a 4-1 defeat. Manager Jim Goodwin claimed his players were ‘very, very confident’ of going to Ibrox and getting a result against a home side under growing pressure.
After taking the lead through Connor Barron, the Dons failed to back up their manager’s words with their deeds. Speaking on Sportscene, former Pittodrie defender Richard Foster suggested that the pre-match comments had given ‘fuel’ to Giovanni van Bronckhorst and his side. Aberdeen captain Stewart admits his side were undone by the intensity of the home team.
Insisting Goodwin was right to preach a positive message before the game, however, the central defender said: ‘It’s massive to do so because a lot of teams go there and they have lost the game before it has started. Our mentality was to try and go there and impose ourselves. ‘We have been scoring goals this season so there was no reason why we wouldn’t back ourselves going into the game. ‘That comes from the camp. We have got a good team and we have proven that this season. ‘Everyone sees Rangers and Celtic as a free hit.
We don’t. We try to impose ourselves and express ourselves and unfortunately we just fell short.’ A bright, confident start to the game brought some reward when Barron lashed the ball high into the net after good work by Aberdeen’s best attacker, Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes. After taking the lead, the Dons surrendered the advantage when poor defending allowed Antonio Colak to equalise six minutes later. Playing better than they have in recent weeks, Rangers took advantage of poor defending from Ross McCrorie before halftime to turn the game on its head. ‘I feel like we didn’t keep the ball well enough for the fans to fully turn,’ added Stewart.
‘I felt like they always felt they could get back in from it. That is where we fell short. ‘We should have put our foot on the ball, taken a rest and kept the ball away from them so the fans could turn on them. I don’t think they allowed it. It was quite end-to-end in the first half and anyone could have scored. ‘I feel their intensity outdone us.’