Recap
Aberdeen continued their winning way coming off the back of their win against The Rangers at the weekend, with a convincing win against Hamilton at Pittodrie on Halloween night.
Graeme Shinnie fired the Dons into the lead early in the first half, James Wilson followed up with a superb long-range drive soon after with Mikey Devlin finding the net in the second half.
Late into the game Hamilton’s Dougie Imrie was sent off for a second yellow ending their dismal display in front of the 12,365 crowd.
Following the match, Derek McInnes told the club website: “I think the game could have potentially been trickier than what it was.
“After the weekend and the physical exertions of the players we had to get them up and going again as we have to get the league form going again.
“Hamilton came up here on the back of a good result at Kilmarnock and set up 5-4-1 as we maybe expected, and the onus was on us to break that down. I thought Hamilton set up to counter-attack and they did it two or three times pretty well.
“We were guilty of giving away possession and there were moments of sloppiness, but there were also real moments of quality. When teams sit like that against you it’s a mixture of having the tempo to play about them and help find that quality, but also find the balance with patience and that was sometimes difficult.
“We scored two very good goals with good a good run and great strike from Shinnie. The second one from James Wilson is probably as good a goal as we’ve seen from anyone this season – it was top drawer. He comes off his man, looks up and scores from all of 30 yards. It was unstoppable and a fantastic strike. 2-0 we were good value at half time and it was important to get more control in the game knowing that we had the win and hoping to get the clean sheet.
“James worked hard. I think it’s clear that the boy’s not had a lot of football in the last few seasons and he’s had injuries, so you can try get him up to speed, but the only way you can get him to where he’s needs to be is by getting him on the pitch. I thought he worked extremely hard for the team. He was bright enough with his work and there’s more to come from him clearly. I think when you see the quality of the strike it shows what the boy’s capable of. We don’t expect him to score those types of goals every game, but it’s his second goal at Pittodrie and hopefully it’s a sign of things to come. We want regular goalscorers, but if we can score three at home most weeks I’ll be happy.
“You know you’re having a good night when Mikey scores from 30 yards.
“The wind was difficult for the keepers tonight and defenders, but he’s caught it really sweetly. It opened up for him and there were a lot of bodies in front of him, but it’s a lovely clean strike from big Mikey. It’s good for him and we want goals from all areas of the pitch. I thought he and Scotty again played their part in getting the clean sheet. There were moments of sloppiness, but we saw a lot of the ball and had to be a wee bit sharper, but it’s great we managed to get Mikey on the score sheet.
“Credit to Hamilton as ever as they never give up. Hamilton play as if they are 1-0 down all the time and even when it goes to two and three they always believe and keep going. They kept us on our toes, so it was great to get the third goal and great to get the clean sheet. On the back of Sunday, it’s great to follow up with another win.
“I think every team looks for momentum.
“Wins are going to be hard to come by this season as the league’s stronger. I think Hamilton are stronger than they’ve been in the last couple of years, but most teams you could say that about. You’ve seen tonight there’s a couple of draws so any winning run you can get on will be much sought after.
“We’ve always been good at getting those types of unbeaten runs throughout the season. We’re going to have to work hard to maintain that and another challenge is Sunday against Kilmarnock who have started the way they finished last year. It’s good to get another clean sheet, the three points, get amongst the goals and we’ll rest up. The players will be in tomorrow to recover and start to focus on Kilmarnock.”
Mikey Devlin commented on the game: “It was a game when the fixtures came out I had a look for with Hamilton being my old side.
“It was a special night to see some familiar faces, but most importantly we got the three points and topping it off with a goal was great.
“It was great to follow on from such a high on Sunday with progression through to the final and beating Rangers, which is so important to this club. It was a great feeling to carry that on with another three points in the league tonight.
“Our form has been indifferent, there’s no denying that, but delighted to get another three points and hopefully we can start moving up the table.
“We had to be patient at times and at times there’s a tendency to force a pass. I was like that as well as I gave the ball away a few times and it’s important to stay patient in games like that where they were sitting in with their shape.
“We analysed Hamilton and if you look at the last few games they played, albeit they lost a few goals against Rangers, for the majority of that game they defended really well and stayed in their shape and made it really difficult for them. They obviously came here tonight to hit us on the counter. They had a couple of opportunities and we were the cause of our own downfall in that sense by being slack, but we kept the ball well, moved at a tempo and that was the important thing.
“The gaffer stressed that before the game and guarded about complacency and we had to dictate the game and play at our own tempo and we done that.
“James Wilson scores with a magnificent strike. I know Willo’s capable of that in training, playing against him, and when he shifts the ball and hits it as purely as that it’s almost impossible to defend. It was fantastic, and we were delighted to get that goal. The second goal at that point in the game was really crucial for us and it allowed us to relax a bit and start playing more. The second half in particular was pleasing and we were professional. We limited them to very few opportunities, dominated the ball and on another day could have had another couple of goals.
“I was thinking if Scotty can do it then I can do it!
“It opened up for me and the way we had been moving the ball it was probably calling for someone to step in. Even if it meant committing someone else it may have opened up space for a more forward-thinking player to get on the ball and fortunately the way it was I took a touch and thought I’d have a go. Sometimes when you hit them they go in. I’m delighted. A bit shocked but delighted that it found its way into the net. It was fantastic.
“It’s going well and fortunately with football when things are going well there’s a tendency to give you a boot up the backside and that’s what you’ve got to guard against.
“The success and consistency that is expected of you here, you can’t let your form dip. If it does, that’s when you lose your place in the team, so you’ve got to try and stay consistent and stay focussed and keep working at your game.
“Fortunately, just now things are going quite well and there’s been a few good positives in the last couple of weeks. You’ve just got to keep working and I know there’s improvement in my own game that I need to keep working at and as a group we’ll try to keep working hard and hopefully we will climb up the league to get back up to where we belong, which is it at the top end of the league.”
Goalscorer James Wilson said: “It was one of the better ones that I’ve scored throughout my career. I’m very happy with that and found myself in a bit of space and I felt good in the warm up with my shooting so lined one up and gave it a shot and thankfully it flew into the top corner.
“I’d like more minutes, but with the injuries I’ve had I’m happy enough with my progression and hoping to go forward on this and go again Sunday.
“I’ve been working hard in training and getting my fitness up. The games that are coming up will be a good test for me so hopefully I can stay as fit as possible and do well for the team.”
