Aberdeen V Hearts at Pittodrie Stadium : Match Preview

12 August 2016 17:34
Aberdeen V Hearts - view commentary, squad, and statistics of the game live.


Adam Rooney looking to kick-start Aberdeen's campaign

Adam Rooney is hoping to fire Aberdeen to a first league win of the season against Hearts this weekend.

The Dons were held to a goalless draw by St Johnstone in last week's curtain raiser but Rooney, who signed a four-year deal at Pittodrie last week, is confident with the ambition of the club.

He said: "You can see the whole ambition of the club. I've seen the plans for the future and I think it's going to be a brilliant set-up.

"I'm looking forward to playing at the new stadium and I think the new training ground will be attractive to a lot of players. That's the one thing the club probably lacks right now."

Despite a flux of departures from the club, Rooney remains committed and is enjoying his time with Derek McInnes' side.

"I've enjoyed every minute since I came to Aberdeen. It's a great bunch of lads in the dressing room and I get on well with the gaffer too, so there was nothing to complicate the decision," he said.

"I've scored a lot of goals since I came here and that's something I aim to continue.

"With the new stadium, new training ground and hopefully more trophies to come, the new deal was something I was happy to commit to."

Robbie Nelson is happy with Hearts' performances ahead of the trip, despite the disappointing results.

A Europa League exit to Birkirkara has been compounded by a league defeat to Celtic and Betfred Cup loss to St Johnstone, but Nelson is not concerned.

He said: "The actual performances in the first two competitive games in Scotland have been far better than they were in the first two seasons, even though we picked up more points in the first two seasons.

"This season the performances, in my opinion and the players' opinion, have been really good. We rode our luck in the first two seasons but performance-wise it's been far superior. It's just the small details that are costing us.

Hearts will be without Jamie Walker after failing to cancel his two-match ban for diving and Neilson is keen to move on from the incident and Celtic captain Scott Brown's comments that the Tynecastle midfielder was a "cheat".


Source: PAR