Jimmy Thelin dismissed suggestions the 6-0 Premier Sports Cup semi-final defeat by Celtic at the start of November was the reason Aberdeen lost their way so badly through the winter.
The Dons were unbeaten for 16 matches in all competitions before that chastening Hampden destruction at the hands of Brendan Rodgers’ side on November 2.
Although Thelin’s team bounced back to defeat Dundee 4-1 the following Saturday, they then embarked on a dismal run of 14 William Hill Premiership matches without a win until they got back on track with back-to-back victories over Dundee and Kilmarnock over the past two weekends.
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That semi-final was pinpointed by many as the moment the wheels came off for Aberdeen, but as they prepare to head to Celtic Park on league duty on Tuesday, the Dons boss insisted that match was not the cause of his side’s winter malaise.
“I don’t think we lost any confidence in that game,” said Thelin. “I think it was a quite tough week, we played Rangers (on the Wednesday before it), and then the semi-final, and that’s football sometimes.
“And when you sometimes get wrong into the game, it can just accelerate. I think we won the game after that, and then just the run to come after that, there can be a lot of analysis about that. But it’s small, small situations, squad (issues), different reasons.
“It’s a lot of things (factors to blame) when you don’t get the results in that period we had. Sometimes some games were quite good, but we got some goals against us.”
After their grim winter run, Aberdeen head to Celtic Park on the back of a three-game winning streak in all competitions and having reclaimed third place from Dundee United.
Thelin, who will be without full-back Nicky Devlin due to a shoulder injury, is unfazed by the prospect of a Celtic backlash after they suffered a rare domestic defeat away to Hibernian on Saturday.
“No, I’m not worried about that,” he said. “They’re always good at home and away, but for us it’s more about what we want to do, how we want to grow as a team.
“We need to take the challenge we’re going to face tomorrow and keep working on our things. We know what they’re going to do, they do it really well, and we have to be sharp and ready for that game.
“If you look at their home record, they’re always good there, but it doesn’t matter, tomorrow is one game, and we have to believe in our things.
“Of course we know what they’re good at, when they have the speed and the combinations, but still it’s one isolated game, and we have our strengths also, and hopefully we can get that in tomorrow, and our players can keep building on what we’ve done in the last games.”
