Aberdeen ‘not all doom and gloom’ as star ponders how to get back on track

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Aberdeen are now winless in five and at risk of surrendering their position in the top two.

The Dons can probably kiss goodbye to challenging Celtic for the title after falling nine points behind having played a game more than the champions.

Defeats to the Hoops and St Mirren as well as draws against Hibs, Hearts and St Johnstone have well and truly rendered the unbeaten start to the season a distant memory.

And Jimmy Thelin’s side now face a battle to even cling onto second as resurgent Rangers moved to within two points of them, and they also have a game in hand.

Aberdeen appear to be lacking in the confidence they previously had during their storming start.

READ MORE: Jimmy Thelin reacts to Aberdeen fan boos and makes Dons admission

Leighton Clarkson assesses Aberdeen form

But midfielder Leighton Clarkson insists it isn’t a confidence thing.

He insists the belief within the Aberdeen squad is unwavering and it is more an issue with a lack of quality in recent games.

Clarkson, who has two goals in the last three games, says a lot of the play has been slow and the team needs to find their groove again.

The former Liverpool kid said: “We are still in a really good position so it’s not all doom and gloom.

“The spirit is still there but the quality has dipped in the last few games and we need to get that back.

“The confidence hasn’t gone, we just need to be more at it.

“The games we drew recently felt like losses even though we did get something out of them.

“But we felt (against St Johnstone) we really should have been coming away with three points.

“We had a lot of possession but it was all a bit slow when we need to punch the passes in and make them run around.”

No Pittodrie ‘fear factor’

Aberdeen remain unbeaten at home after their only defeats came on the road against St Mirren and Celtic.

In fact, prior to Saturday they had won every game at Pittodrie which has been a fortress amid the good feeling at the beginning of the campaign.

Fans were right behind the team previously but aimed a chorus of boos as Aberdeen came off trailing at half-time.

Clarkson felt that fear factor was missing as St Johnstone came and played with a freedom.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	CelticCeltic	15	14	1	0	44	4	40	43
2	AberdeenAberdeen	16	10	4	2	30	18	12	34
3	RangersRangers	15	10	2	3	27	9	18	32
4	Dundee UtdDundee Utd	15	6	6	3	22	15	7	24
5	MotherwellMotherwell	15	7	1	7	18	23	-5	22
6	DundeeDundee	16	5	4	7	27	29	-2	19

He added: “We spoke in the changing room before the game about getting the crowd going.

“For opposition players to come here, they should fear it.

“I don’t think St Johnstone feared it and that comes from us on the pitch not giving the fans enough to shout about.

“So there’s obviously still a lot we need to do.”