Jimmy Thelin on the Aberdeen star being rewarded and his half-time message

Add as preferred source on Google

Aberdeen had the character required to respond to a 14-game winless run with a couple of victories to keep themselves in contention for third.

And they had it again to come back from two goals down to draw with Dundee United to stop the Tangerines from going above them in said race.

It was a big day in the battle for European spots as Hibs beat Hearts 2-1 in the Edinburgh derby to take third spot ahead of the Pittodrie clash.

Aberdeen were backed to claim third by pundits last week and had a real test of their mettle against Jim Goodwin’s side. The visitors went into the break two head after Vicko Sevelj’s opener and Sam Dalby’s second on the stroke of half time.

But a second half Kevin Nisbet double, including the equaliser in stoppage time, meant it was a share of the points and the Dons held onto fourth, a point ahead of their opponents.

Jimmy Thelin has been delighted with Nisbet in recent games.

Kevin Nisbet rewarded for Aberdeen hard work

The on-loan Millwall frontman scored three goals early in his Aberdeen spell but then hit a large dry spell. But he has scored four in his last five games and the confidence seems to be flowing again.

Thelin says he has been working hard and his now reaping the rewards.

He said in his post-match press conference: “If you think about Kevin’s development since he arrived, how hard he’s worked in the gym and training pitch. It’s really nice to see players get payback for that on the pitch.

“He has pushed to get better and sharper, he is working a lot after the sessions – he is getting the rewards of that now. I am glad to see it. The goals is one thing but it’s also how he contributes to the build-up and how he works over the pitch.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
3	HibernianHibernian	29	11	10	8	44	40	4	43
4	AberdeenAberdeen	29	12	6	11	38	46	-8	42
5	Dundee UtdDundee Utd	29	11	8	10	36	36	0	41

“He has improved his defending part a lot so is taking more responsibility there. Usually when you do that well, you arrive more with scoring opportunities because you’re more in the game and connected with the team.

“I am happy with what he’s showing as well. We want everyone to contribute with the goals, not just one player, but when you have someone with his quality and calmness inside the box it is good for us. I am not the decision-maker for that but I am happy with what he is contributing here.”

Thelin’s half-time Aberdeen message

Just what did the Swede say to his players during the break to inspire such a turnaround?

He explained: “We talked about it at half-time, some parts of the performance in the first half were quite good but we lost soft goals against us.

“We know we have to do better for the rest of the season and not get into those situations. We have to make it more difficult for teams to score against us but I am sure we are going to fix this.”