Fresh off the dismissal of manager Jim Goodwin after a heavy defeat at the weekend, Aberdeen will return to action on Wednesday when they welcome St Mirren to Pittodrie.
Back-to-back league thrashings have seen the hosts drop to seventh spot in the Scottish Premiership table, now one point behind their visitors who triumphed in their last outing on Saturday.
Match preview
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Aberdeen head into Wednesday's Scottish Premiership contest newly under the temporary stewardship of Barry Robson, following Jim Goodwin's exit on Saturday after a dismal run of form saw them pick up just one victory from a span of 10 games in all competitions.
After that singular triumph over a struggling St Johnstone side broke a five-match winless run and left them on 29 points from 21 league outings, the Dons would drop out of the Scottish League Cup semi-final following a 2-1 defeat to Rangers after extra time, before they travelled to take on Hearts and suffered a 5-0 thrashing as Josh Ginnelly hit a brace alongside goals from Michael Smith, Lawrence Shankland and Cameron Devlin.
Aiming to bounce back from that disappointing display, they then met sixth-tier Darvel in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup, and the Pittodrie outfit suffered a damning 1-0 defeat with Jordan Kirkpatrick's goal proving the difference between the teams, leaving Goodwin's position under immense pressure ahead of their contest with Hibernian on Saturday.
The Dons did not show any signs of improvement at Easter Road, as their hosts led 2-0 through two Josh Campbell goals inside 15 minutes, before he completed a hat-trick and Elie Youan, Kevin Nisbet and Will Fish also got on the scoresheet in a 6-0 thrashing, with the manager's exit confirmed soon after full time.
With the search for a successor now underway, having dropped into the bottom half of the Scottish top flight, Aberdeen will be desperate to turn their form around starting with a win on Wednesday which would see them jump back above the visitors.
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Their visitors make the trip on the back of an important victory at the weekend to climb back into the top half after a tough run of their own in the Scottish Premiership.
A 3-1 win in their last meeting with Aberdeen on Christmas Eve, thanks to a Kelle Roos own goal and finishes from Mark O'Hara and Greg Kiltie, left the Saints on 21 points from 15 league games, but they would then endure a five-match winless run in the top flight, putting just three more points on the board along the way.
Stephen Robinson's side will have then gained some confidence as they got past Dundee in the Scottish Cup fourth round after a penalty shootout, as Trevor Carson saved all three of their opponents' efforts, before they returned to league action at home to Motherwell on Saturday with the aim of returning to winning ways in the league.
Curtis Main put the Saints ahead in the 16th minute of that contest, and Robinson's men stood strong to see out a 1-0 triumph for their eighth three-point haul of the campaign and leapfrog Wednesday's opponents as a result.
Now leading Aberdeen by a point with a game in hand, and with fifth-placed Hibernian only ahead on goal difference and fourth-placed Livingston just two points better off, Robinson's men can vastly improve their standing in the fight for a top-half finish if they are able to make it back-to-back wins when they travel to Pittodrie.
Team News
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Given their recent form, Barry Robson may look to make several changes to the Aberdeen starting XI on Wednesday in a bid to inspire a change in form, and they will certainly be without centre-back Liam Scales, who is suspended after being shown a second yellow late on in the Hibernian defeat.
In his absence, Ross McCrorie may have to fill in in a makeshift role alongside Anthony Stewart in the middle of the back four, while Middlesbrough loanee Hayden Coulson is likely to come back in from the outset on the left-hand side, as is Connor Barron in midfield.
In what has been a tough campaign for the squad, attackers Bojan Miovski and Luis Lopes have been shining lights with 11 and nine league goals respectively, with the latter also boasting five assists, and they will again be relied on heavily at the top end of the pitch.
St Mirren could come into Wednesday's contest with an unchanged XI from their win over Motherwell, with Curtis Main bound to again lead the line after making the difference with his fourth league goal of the season.
Jonah Ayunga, who has netted a team-high tally of seven goals in all competitions so far this term, is unlikely to join him after his substitute appearance was cut short last time out, meaning Alex Greive should keep his starting spot on the front two, while Ethan Erhahon, Mark O'Hara and Greg Kiltie should again operate in the midfield.
Following their clean sheet, the back three of Charles Dunne, Alex Gogic and Marcus Fraser is unlikely to be changed in front of in-form goalkeeper Trevor Carson, who inspired their penalty shootout win over Dundee in the Scottish Cup.
Aberdeen possible starting lineup:
Roos; Hayes, McCrorie, Stewart, Coulson; Barron, Shinnie; Watkins, Myslovic, Lopes; Miovski
St Mirren possible starting lineup:
Carson; Dunne, Gogic, Fraser; Strain, Kiltie, Erhahon, O'Hara, Tanser; Greive, Main
We say: Aberdeen 2-1 St Mirren
Aberdeen have far more quality than their recent run suggests, particularly going forward, and with a change in management often inspiring an upturn in form, we back them to make a return to winning ways at Pittodrie.
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Top tip
Sam Varley
