Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin has warned Celtic that his side will be a different proposition to the one that lost heavily against them at Hampden.
Celtic were ruthless in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final at the start of November as they mercilessly ended Aberdeen’s unbeaten domestic run with a 6-0 victory.
The Dons were simply outclassed on the day, but Thelin says the mauling will bear zero significance when the two teams meet again on Wednesday night in the Premiership.
Thelin understands Celtic were excellent in Mount Florida but as far as the 46-year-old is concerned, tonight’s game under the lights at Pittodrie won’t be same.
Aberdeen at Pittodrie is ‘different’
Speaking to the press, Thelin said: “What happened before doesn’t matter. It will be two different games, so let’s see what we do better in this game.
“That was a big semi-final and Celtic played very well, but this is a different game, we are at home this time. We know what Celtic are good at but we want to focus on what we can do.
“For us, it’s about being clear what we want to do no matter who we play against and approach the game in that way. Hopefully we can see a big step forward.
“When you go onto a football game you always believe you can win, you have to believe that. You can’t think about what other people think.
“You always respect the opponent but you always have to believe you can win at Pittodrie.”
Thelin wants long-term Aberdeen identity
The Swede has been consistent with his message that he is at Aberdeen for the long haul and will stick to the process at the club despite a setbacks in the last few games.
He continued: “Every club has to focus on what they can do and make our belief of what we can do at Aberdeen. Each club is in a different context so we have to focus on what we can do at Aberdeen.
“I feel like this club is growing step by step every time, we’re trying to be better every day. We want to keep this long-term process because that’s how to keep an identity.
“If you lose one game or draw a game, you have to remember why you started on this journey in the first place. You have to stick to the process, improve and adjust all the time.
“The players experience different things, they are going to grow from the pressure. You have to keep pushing, for us it’s about being consistent in our work over a period of time.
“So we have to focus on ourselves and don’t think about what other clubs are right now.”