After their storming start to the season, Aberdeen are now three without a win.
Are they victims of their own success with that now seen as a disappointment?
Well, manager Jimmy Thelin isn’t concerned with the expectations others put on his squad and is looking only at the journey he wants to take his team on.
The unbeaten run came to a crashing halt with defeat at St Mirren and that has now been followed up by two away draws in Edinburgh to Hibs and Hearts.
Aberdeen led the latter this afternoon through Leighton Clarkson’s first half strike but Nicky Devlin scored a second half own goal.
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Jimmy Thelin gives take on Aberdeen draw with Hearts
The Dons had looked like getting back to winning ways with Hearts shook by two defenders having to go off injured.
But it was the home side who had momentum after equalising and they had a few good chances to win it towards the end.
With the way the game panned out Thelin is viewing it as a good point rather than a missed opportunity.
Asked that question by Premier Sports, he said: “I think how the game went it is a good point. We tried, I liked the way the players approached the game. They really tried to find a winning goal.
“But we also lost the ball in some areas and they got also some opportunities.
“It was a tricky game and we were fighting hard in two away games in Edinburgh.”
Asked how his side lost grip on the game, he added: “It’s football in one way. But we do some parts well but we lose the ball in some areas and the opponent gets momentum. But that’s tiny, it will come.”
Thelin blocks out noise
The Aberdeen boss has so far done a good job of blocking out any external noise and seems to have effectively got his players’ tuned into that same message.
And he insists he isn’t paying any attention to anyone that says the Dons are now failing to meet the high standards they set themselves.
He has goals he wants to achieve with this team and points out he’s only a quarter of the way through his first season.
“I don’t think about others’ expectation,” Thelin insisted. “From the beginning it’s a long-term process but also short-term game by game.
“We also try to win the game when we play it. We had a big start and we’ve played three away games in a row now.
“Of course we want more than these two draws but we also have to respect the opponent. They are good and it’s not easy.
“We want to grow and we need to grow to be more consistent and stable season to season. This is the first quarter of the first season so we have things to improve and I’m not stressed about expectations.”