Source: FOOTYMAD
Not Again!
Aberdeen welcome Celtic to Pittodrie tonight hoping they can win for a change Craig Brown wants his Aberdeen players to turn shame into pride for their fans when they take on Celtic again so soon after the capitulation at Hampden in the Co-operative Insurance Cup semi-final. Being four down with only 34 minutes gone on Saturday was enough for a number of Dons fans who walked out of Hampden, some throwing their scarves on to the track, after Anthony Stokes finished off the Glasgow side's scoring. The Dons made some amends in the second half, with Scott Vernon netting their only goal, and Brown has demanded continued improvement when Celtic visit Pittodrie in the league. He said: "I am appealing to the fans to not desert the cause. I can't comment any more on the fantastic support that went to Hampden. Archie (Knox) and I sat and tried to work out how much it cost and estimated it cost each fan £50 at least, and that's not including food or drink. When you see the commitment it really is quite moving. The fans have to be rewarded. The fans want to be proud of their team and not ashamed of their team. They were a bit ashamed in the opening period of the match because we conceded soft goals. We were horrified and we do not intend to repeat that.'' Saturday's result means that Aberdeen have conceded 13 goals to Celtic this season but Brown is glad to be facing them again. The former Scotland manager said: "I would think the best possible team to be playing again is Celtic. We owe a performance to the fans here. They know that. The players know that. I am glad we are playing Celtic who are on form. It is a major challenge for us. It would have been a disappointment to have to play someone else. It is not a revenge situation it's just a situation to try and get some credibility back. In open play they didn't really score a goal, three corners and a penalty. We have hit the post. We have missed three certainties. We are looking at the positive from the Aberdeen point of view when you analyse it. We have got to though be much more resolute in defending against our immediate opponent.'' Neil Lennon will dust off his Hampden team talk to encourage his side to deal with Aberdeen in the same clinical way they did at the weekend. Lennon admit he might struggle to think of something new to say ahead of a SPL game that Celtic want to win to increase their lead over Rangers at the top of the table to eight points. He said: "It is very fresh from Saturday. It's sort of difficult to do team talks at times because it sounds like Groundhog Day but it's just the way the fixtures have thrown these games up. We have to concentrate. It's a massive game for us in terms of the league. It's a game that we dearly want to win and I'm sure Aberdeen will be the same so I think we are in for a tough game. It's a different venue and I'm sure Aberdeen will be fired up for it after what happened to them on Saturday. But we go into the game with confidence and belief in ourselves, which is good as long as it's not misplaced. We were excellent last Wednesday (against Hearts) and we carried that on at the weekend. It was scintillating stuff and I was delighted.'' Editor Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba net)Admin Team (admin@scottishfitba net)This is ScottishFitba Net
