Preview- Aberdeen (a)

While our all time record at Pittodrie makes fairly grim reading we have done reasonably in the north east recently. We have not lost there in over two years and we picked up a pair of 2-2 draws last season – we would probably be happy to settle for the same again. Aberdeen have been poor for spells this season but their points total doesn't lie. No matter how bad they may seem to be (and they looked rotten at Fir Park) they are still significantly better than us. We will need to play well to have any hope of taking anything from this one.

Happy days at Pittodrie

We will once again be without Scott McDonald along with our list of long-term absentees. We were just about beginning to cope without Corrigan et al but there is no doubt that we are struggling without Skippy. Our front two, in his absence, of Clarkson and Elliot just do not look convincing. That said, strikers do need time to learn to play together and it is hard to be too harsh on Clarkson when he scored and won a penalty in the last game. Nonetheless, the feeling lingers that we will struggle for goals.

The defence, with the exception of Tuesday, has been much better recently and we will need to hope they rediscover their form. Aberdeen have some good midfielders, Jamie Smith in particular is dangerous and we always struggle with the pace of Mackie up front. It is certainly not beyond the realms of possibility for us to take a point or even to win this one but we need everyone playing to their potential. In the end though, we'll be content to go home with a 1-1 draw.

Remember the last time we were at Pittodrie?