Since having a rogue apostrophe on the home side and stated date appeared to serve us well this last weekend, thought I'd give it a go for this next week. This game is massively important to our season because we need:

1) to see if we've finally turned the corner and

2) to keep another top 6 candidate at bay.

There've been a few murmurings in the press again signalling that McInnes should be a hun soon. It was odd, as they essentially were saying he should steady the ship and they should get someone else in after that  Great vote of confidence that.

Anyway, we've got a few more players available and I thought from the 20min highlights I saw, we looked reasonable in attack, albeit a bit wasteful, but still looked vulnerable at the back. So we're far from being out the woods yet. I'd be keen to see Nisbet and PHG keep their places, in fact, pretty much that starting XI could stay as I think they've probably earnt it.  Killie haven't won away from home in the league since the end of October, so we shouldn't lack confidence, despite their win against the tractor saints on the weekend.

I'll let Panda come up with the team graphics 👍

Out

Bed

Bed

2-1 Dons, Nilsen and Nisbet

Thought we showed a lot more fight and urgency when our captain and leader Shinnie came on @redordead 😉 

Thought Jensen had a good game, didn’t get beaten much 1v1, is being more physical, and consistent/reliable. Didn’t see many errors.

20 minutes ago, OrlandoDon said:

Dare I say we look like early season dons?

 A wee bit optimistic Id say,but what a way to win a game for your new club.Well done Dabbagh....

...pity I was heading up Merkland road at the time...🙄.😎

Edited February 22, 20251 yr by Elgindon

Though I'd add,winning and not playing well is always a bonus,we'll surely get more out of what weve got over time? Still a bit ring rusty/disjointed with all the changes and additions.You,d assume Thelin can also see where our problems lie...

   Liked the look of Dabbagh while he was on.Looked bright and lively,hopefully keep Nisbet on his toes

     

Edited February 22, 20251 yr by Elgindon

I wouldn’t be too worried about us being a bit scrappy, we were up against a typical away from home Derek McInnes team, they were set up to frustrate us from the get go. We kept going instead of panicking as we got to the end of the match, it went as well as it could have.

Title race back on

Great win today, in a game where Killie couldn't get close to the ref in terms of slowing it down, he was fucking awful.

We were the better team and deserved our win. The subs made the difference. Gueye disappointing, needs to work far harder, looked like he'd been out on the lash. He wondered around the whole pitch without actually doing anything, it was like watching a Jet performance. Keskinen and Okkels not particularly good either. Shinnie, Clarkson and Dabbagh all very good when they came on, and Devlin did what he does and put his body on the line where others wouldn't (not sure it was a booking for their lad like, or a foul). Nisbet MOTM again though, he was really good with the ball. He's like a different player with another forward alongside him, and despite his poor performance, Gueye made a lot of room for Nisbet to take it into feet and use the wide players. Jensen did okay again. He put in a good tackle near the end, but special mention to Morris who ran sixty yards to double up on the guy to make it easier for Jensen. Mitov good, great to see him back. 

1 hour ago, Elgindon said:

Liked the look of Dabbagh while he was on.Looked bright and lively,hopefully keep Nisbet on his toes

     

I'd say it's more likely Gueye he replaces. Notable that when Clarkson came on it was in a deeper role (granted, he was replacing Palaversa and Shinnie was being used at left back) but I think Thelin feels Nisbet playing off someone a bit more mobile, with the two wide men cutting in, is the way to go. 

Nisbet I thought was again excellent. I'd be inclined to start him and Dabbagh on Tuesday.

Morris was good when he came on. It's funny though, it's so predictable what he's going to do - he'll always go to his right when a defender stands him up. But, he's tenacious and is holding onto the ball well under pressure.

Tobers and Knoester. We've finally got a good defensive partnership there.

That was not a great watch but happy with the win. Impressed with Dabbagh when he came on. Looks a player and one who might work well with Nisbet. As others have Nisbet MOTM for me. Needed that win with those around us wining as well. 

To be fair to Gueye I thought Killie were watching him very closely. It looked like they were very wary of giving him free space to run into with the ball. 

As others have said it was a typical Mcinnes sit in and frustrate so I'm not going to read too much into the lack of chances created. In the end it was one of those games where we deserved it because we managed to score.  Twas a really tidy and opportunistic finish from Dabbagh as well and I agree that he looked very bright when he came on.  

Tuesday will be the first big test for Tobers and Knoester but we will save that chat for another thread.  Agree they are looking like a good pairing and defo improving though.  

Thelin used his bench well today, obviously devlin coming off wasn't part of the plan but changing 3 players at once is not without it's risks.  It paid off though as I thought we started to dominant after that. Morris looked lively as well when he came on, had a crazy good run at one point when he went past like 4 players from near the centre of the pitch to manage to get to byline to get a cross in.