Source: Team_Talk
Levein: Calderwood so consistent
Both of the New Firm rivals are engaged in the battle for third place in the Scottish Premier League - along with Levein's former club Hearts - and meet in a eagerly-anticipated encounter at Pittodrie this weekend.[LNB]Calderwood led Aberdeen to third place two seasons ago and excelled in the UEFA Cup, getting to the group stages, while Levein understands what it takes to hoist a team to the 'best of the rest' title, having done it during his time at Tynecastle.[LNB]The United manager also knows teams usually have their best talent cherry-picked after finishing third and that was certainly the case for the Dons, who have lost skipper Russell Anderson, Barry Nicholson and Chris Clark over the past 18 months.[LNB]Despite those departures, Calderwood has still kept Aberdeen in a competitive position and his opposite number appreciates how difficult that is to do.[LNB]He said: "It's not easy to have a team up challenging for third three seasons in a row.[LNB]"I know from my time at Hearts how difficult it is. When you have some success, other teams look at your players and, more often than not, you have to rebuild a bit.[LNB]"Jimmy has had that; he's lost quality players from his team but he's managed to maintain their standards.[LNB]"It's not easy for any of us outwith the Old Firm to get that level of consistency.[LNB]"We're all a bit unpredictable; on their day, Aberdeen are excellent and you can say that for a lot of the teams in this league.[LNB]"Nobody is consistent enough to run away ahead; if they were, they'd have taken the third place by now."[LNB]United have been off-form of late, having won only two of their last eight matches, but Levein sees no reason to panic.[LNB]One area he is keen to see his players improve on is their defensive record - they have not kept a clean sheet in the SPL since November - but he's confident they are about to get back to their usual ways.[LNB]He said: "We need to improve defensively; that's something we've talked about and have been working on.[LNB]"I want to see more clean sheets because that's what our good form earlier in the season was built on.[LNB]"I was disappointed with the way we finished last season but, this time round, I'm confident we'll end much stronger."[LNB]United will have Prince Buaben and Lee Wilkie back in action after they picked up knocks against Inverness last weekend.[LNB]One player who will not feature, though, is recent signing James Wesolowski, who is recovering from a broken ankle and needs another week's training before he can be considered.[LNB]Levein said: "Prince is back in training, as is Lee Wilkie, so I expect the pair of them to be fine.[LNB]"James Wesolowski won't be in the squad though. He had a bit of a hold-up at the start of the week with tight hamstrings and that has knocked him back a bit.[LNB]"He should be fine for next week and if not, we've got a wee break after that and he'll definitely be ready when that's over."[LNB][LNB][LNB]
