The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Mcgrath aims to get the job done
A they berdeen can right the wrongs of their last visit to Easter Road when visit Hibs tomorrow, says Jamie Mcgrath.
The Dons were made to pay for a lack of killer touch in front of goal in their 2-0 Premiership loss on December 3.
If they can take their chances in Edinburgh this weekend and record their first league victory over the Hibees at the fourth attempt this season, the Reds know they will leapfrog their hosts into seventh – top of the bottom six – in the top flight.
Midfielder Mcgrath said: “It was probably one of the best performances of the season, but typical of us, we didn’t get the job done on the day.
“We created five or six really good chances and Bojan (Miovski) missed a penalty – for whatever reason the ball just wouldn’t go in the net.
“But we can take confidence from going down and playing very well that day.
“It’s a great place to play. A big open stadium, great pitch – I think that will suit us at the minute and think it will be a very interesting game.”
Aberdeen head to Easter Road on a six-game unbeaten run in the Premiership and have won their last two outings – 1-0 home victories against Motherwell and St Johnstone.
Mcgrath thinks the Dons’ recent resurgence has been aided by interim manager Peter Leven’s work with the club’s attacking players.
He said: “We have a lot of creative talented players up there and what we’re doing on the training pitch is obviously helping us.
“We’re working on different combinations, playing a bit more freely.
“A bit of confidence helps with that as well. I know we’ve only won 1-0 over the last two weeks, but I think we’ve not been bad value for that and think we could have been three or four up in a few of the games.
“Hopefully that can click on Sunday and we keep this run going – and put to bed our poor record down at Hibs.”
Leven missed last weekend’s Pittodrie win over Saints after it was discovered on Friday he needed an emergency operation to clear an infection from his left hip.
But the interim boss watched the game on a live stream from his hospital bed, while communicating on the phone with the caretaker coaching team led by under-18s coach Scott Anderson.
Mcgrath said: “It was just a message in the group chat on Saturday, saying Pete’s gone in to hospital and he needs surgery.
“Nothing really changed in terms of preparation that day. All our preparation had been done the day before and through the week. It was just a case of going out, being professional and getting the job done – which we did.”