Ross McCrorie knows Aberdeen will be up for the battle to seal third spot because Barry Robson has put together his own band of Pittodrie brothers.
The likes of Duk and Bojan Miovski might have grabbed the headlines with their goals but the recent revival has been very much a team effort. Aberdeen have won seven on the bounce and are five points clear of fourth-placed Hearts going into the top-six fixtures.
McCrorie believes there is a feelgood factor at the Dons and it’s a vibe that flows from the stands to the players and right through the club. The vice-captain took the armband with Graeme Shinnie suspended against Rangers and said: “It was an honour. This is the best group of lads I have been involved with since I have come to Aberdeen. The quality is the best by a mile. We have a lot of quality players in each position.
“Not just that, we are like brothers because it is a tight-knit squad. We have a small squad but we are like a family and we do things together, outwith training as well. You can see that on the pitch.
“The bond in the team is there. We are all celebrating the goals, tackles and the boys creating chances.”
Aberdeen’s players are all committed to the cause and now have the strength and power to go the distance after Sunday’s 2-0 win over Rangers. McCrorie added “Physically, I thought we were immense and you could see we were still running at the end. We were attacking with pace and the gaffer is really big on the transition. We are on top of that and it showed.”
There has been a real resurgence under Robson. He has put Dons back on the map and the Red Army are getting behind the team. That was shown as a packed Pittodrie was central to Sunday’s win. When asked if that was the best atmosphere he had played in at Aberdeen, McCrorie said: “I would say so.
“You could feel it that the fans were right behind us. Every time we were attacking the fans were behind us. Even into the later stages they spurred us on and it showed in the team. It gives us that extra 10 per cent.
“I feel like since the gaffer has come in we have really gone up a notch. If teams want to battle then we can match physically and overpower them at times. Credit to the gaffer, he has been terrific.”
McCrorie knows the win laid down a marker. He also knew that Aberdeen owed Rangers from earlier in the season. Michael Beale’s side had broken their hearts twice – with two stoppage-time goals at Pittodrie in the league and then in extra time in the Viaplay Cup semi-final under Jim Goodwin.
Bristol City target McCrorie admitted: “It is a big result. We had a couple of close games against Rangers this season, the Hampden one and the other when they scored two late goals. We owed them one at some point this season.
“We got that on Sunday with the win. We will not get carried away because we still have five big games coming up in the split. It is just another three points.”
It was also against McCrorie’s former club and it made the win even sweeter after he had taken flak from some Gers fans. “I got a bit of stick at times in the corner,” the versatile Dons star admitted.
“Aberdeen are my club and I am an Aberdeen player. I will do everything for the team. We got three points and it was good to get one over them.”
Aberdeen are in good form going into the top six. Robson and his players have set high standards and McCrorie knows the one thing there is no room for in their dressing room is complacency, knowing third place still has to be clinched.
He warned: “The big thing is that we have been focusing on ourselves and not looking at others. We are not taking note of other results because we have been in our own wee bubble.
“We’ve been focusing on each game and that was shown on Sunday. You can see the quality because it shone through. If we were to start looking too far in advance it wouldn’t do anyone any good. We just look to the first game of the split and to continue this run.
“There are still five games to go and that can dwindle very quickly. You still need to be bang at it because there are five big cup finals to go. Look at the position in January, we were nowhere near it. We have turned it around and got good consistency. The gaffer has brought in a new system and it really suits the boys just now.”
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