Stephen Robison hails Aberdeen character and calls for another strong start

Aberdeen manager Stephen Robinson hailed his side’s ability to handle pressure as he vowed they would again aim to put their opponents on the back foot early on when they face Livingston.

A first-minute goal from Afeez Aremu following a long throw secured a 1-0 win over Kilmarnock last weekend.

It was a second win on the trot for Robinson, and a third on Friday night would leave the Dons all but safe in the William Hill Premiership, barring a freak set of results in the bottom six.

The former Motherwell and St Mirren manager said: “Before I came in, people questioned the character of the team. It was questioned week in, week out.

“What they’ve shown is, under an intense amount of pressure, they can rise to that.

“When they put their bodies on the line, they’re coming out with 50-50 balls, they’re landing on second balls. You need to do that in Scottish football before you can earn the right to play.

“We know we didn’t play to the level we wanted to play last week, but you could feel the nervous energy. But what we’ve done is been able to handle that.

“You have to grind results out at times, and we’ve ground the two results out, in different ways.

“We need the same intensity from the start of the game because Livingston have nothing to lose, absolutely nothing.

“If I get an opportunity to put the ball into the box from a dead ball, which Brentford do, which Brighton do, which Bournemouth do, that’s where it comes from.

“In general, we want to have ownership of the game, we want to have more possession than the opposition, and we want to build that, and we want to be better at that as we go, and we look forward to that next season as well.”

Livi kept their slim hopes of survival alive with victory in Paisley last weekend, but they could be relegated this weekend if they do not beat Aberdeen.

Robinson said: “Any game down at Livingston is always tough on the surface.

“And they’re a team playing with freedom. They got a very good result last week against St Mirren and they’ve got nothing to lose. When you play like that, teams are dangerous.

“They’ve a threat going forward, some real handfuls in the forward areas. And they’ve got some big strong boys at the back, so a huge threat from set-plays. We’re going to have to scrap and battle to win the game.”