Joe Lewis admits Aberdeen’s confidence is at rock bottom as they bid to rediscover the form needed to continue their run in the William Hill Scottish Cup.
The Dons goalkeeper, stung by the home defeat to St Johnstone on Wednesday night, insists he and his team-mates must find the strength to deal with an increasing level of unhappiness from their own fans, underlined when the Reds were booed and jeered of the Pittodrie pitch after Ali McCann’s solitary strike took the points for the Perth outfit.
There is also the alarming statistic that Aberdeen have failed to find the net in their last four outings with top striker Sam Cosgrove having lost his scoring touch as Lewis calls for greater inner strength for what could be the beginning of a crisis for the club.
He said: “We have to be mature enough to deal with some abuse or boos from supporters, whatever it is. We need to be stronger than that.
“The frustration from supporters is understandable and there is an equal frustration in the dressing room over the results.
“No one is going to do it for us and we need to find a spark and some creativity to bring chances and goals for Saturday.”
Kilmarnock, now beginning to find their feet under Alex Dyer, are Aberdeen’s opponents this weekend and a defeat for the hosts will pile more pressure on manager Derek McInnes and his squad, desperate for a decent cup run.
Lewis said: “We clearly have good players and they have shown what they can do this season already.
“We haven’t quite got to those levels and we need to find something over the next couple of days because Kilmarnock will come up looking to make it a similar game on Saturday.
“We need to make sure it is different.”
It was a glorious pass from Liam Craig that set-up Ali McCann for the Perth Saints’ goal at Pittodrie as St Johnstone edged a little closer to the top six in the Premiership when recently they were peering downwards.
Craig cast his mind back to a period when St Johnstone boasted out-and-out defenders like Steven Anderson, Frazer Wright and Dave Mackay and believes that, with Jason Kerr and Jamie McCart at the heart of the defence, it is like turning the clock back.
“After getting the goal early on, we really enjoyed defending the rest of the game,” Craig said, “and as the second half went on, it felt like playing with Anderson, Wright and Mackay again.
“That is in terms of what Jason and Jamie were doing because it is how we always used to defend. It was brilliant to be a part of that.”
The veteran also praised the efforts of fellow midfielder McCann, the 20-year-old who has now hit four goals in his last eight games and whom he described as “excellent and grounded” and a potential target for bigger clubs.
“To see someone like Ali come through the youth system and do so well is brilliant for the club,” Craig said.
“If you are that age and dictating games as well as he is, then clubs are going to take notice. You see how many players are moving down south at a younger age now.
“The club would probably be disappointed if people weren’t looking at Ali because he is doing so well.”
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