Slick finish puts Dons back on the right track

Rarely under Derek McInnes have Aberdeen allowed runs of questionable form to last for long. Indeed, had the Reds not managed to see off Motherwell here, it would have equalled their longest winless streak since the mini-crisis of autumn 2015.

So it was hardly in doubt that they would come marching out of the traps on Saturday with a forthright confidence belying the fact that they had not won a match for over a month.

Within six minutes they had scored a peach of a goal, the sort constructed by players looking at the game with positive eyes.

If Niall McGinn’s assist resembled passing the ball through closing train doors, James Wilson’s finish was like rolling it down the gangway and into the luggage rack.

Three seconds, three touches, full steam ahead. Neither gap even seemed to exist but Aberdeen’s number 9 and 10 were alert enough to see them and good enough to exploit them.

For the pair to combine for such a slick, choreographed goal within five and a bit minutes of making one another’s professional acquaintance is an excellent sign.

Wilson’s movement was one of the attributes which most attracted McInnes to him, and if he is going to combine that with a sympathetic appreciation of where McGinn and Gary Mackay-Steven are likely to play their passes then he will have plenty of opportunities to solve Aberdeen’s goalscoring concerns, even if only temporarily.

Wilson suffered a halting start to his career as a Don but wasted no time in making up for it once he finally took the Pittodrie pitch.