Jim Goodwin admits he would much rather the World Cup break wasn't taking place - with Aberdeen's Dundee United clash on Saturday being his side’s last bow until a double header with Celtic and Rangers in mid-December.
Goodwin acknowledged that his view won't be shared by all Scottish Premiership managers, using Hearts, who have a lengthy injury list, as a prime example of a club that will welcome the World Cup's arrival after this weekend. The Dons sit third in the table and Goodwin would have loved the season to have continued until January so his side could build on their current momentum. But he now accepts that his men will just have to take advantage of the time off to be fully charged for a hectic schedule over the festive period.
He said: "I think it's very strange for everybody to play 15 league games and then have such a lengthy break. It's not ideal, personally I'd have loved to have played right up until January and then maybe have a two week break to re-charge the batteries but it is what it is. We are all in the same boat.
"From our point of view, we wish it wasn't happening because we believe that we are in a good place at the moment mentally and physically. We've not got a great deal of injuries, but I think if you spoke to Robbie Neilson I think he would be delighted that the break is coming because he's still got maybe half a dozen players who are out injured at the moment. So it can work for you sometimes and it can work against you.
"We will take advantage of it, that's for sure. It gives us a good opportunity to let the boys relax and re-charge the batteries I suppose to come back into a busy and competitive schedule right from the off. We play Celtic and Rangers back-to-back in the first two games, so we will have plenty of time to think about those two fixtures and hopefully come up with a good enough game plan which will enable us to get some points from both of those games."
Goodwin also praised the Aberdeen game changers who helped produce positive results and performances from the bench in recent weeks, insisting he doesn't need to worry about what formation his side or any potential opponents will play despite altering his set-up at half-time in Tuesday night's 2-1 defeat to Livingston.
"I don't tend to spend too much time worrying about our formation or the opposition's formation," added Goodwin. "There's game plans there and we've got a set way of playing. Whether we play a 3-5-2 or a 4-3-3, the players' roles and responsibilities within that are very similar.
"The 3-5-2 has worked really well for us up until now and we've picked up a number of points playing that way. We've played some of our best football in that formation. It allows us to get our two centre forwards in the team with Duk and [Bojan] Miovski who have both obviously been in good form, but we have got flexibility to change it if and when we feel the need to.
"We changed it at half-time when we went back to a four. Matty Kennedy came on and was outstanding. He was probably our standout performer in the second 45 minutes along with a number of others. That's something that I've been very complementary about the group, because I think when we've made substitutions in recent weeks, the players who have came on have always seemed to make a positive impact.
"Marley Watkins came on against Hibs a couple of games ago and was brilliant, he contributed to one of the goals. Vinnie Besuijen came off the bench against Hearts and had an assist and a goal. Ryan Duncan, another young academy graduate, has come off the bench on a couple of occasions and scored very good goals so the substitutions, albeit disappointed to not start games, have always had a great mindset. They've always came onto the game and made a positive impact. That is what you want from the group."
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