Aberdeen face 'must win' game against Noah - Thelin

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin reckons "we have to win" Thursday's Conference League game at home to Noah of Armenia to "give us the chance to get through".

The Swede's side have taken just one point from their opening three games and are 33rd out of the 36 teams in the tournament standings.

To reach the knockout phase play-off, the Dons need to get themselves into the top 24 after the final three games.

"If you see the table and the games we have left, to give us an opportunity to go through, we have to win tomorrow - that is clear," Thelin said.

"It is still going to be a difficult game. Noah are a good team with a good manager. They have four points and had some good results, so it is a difficult team to play."

While a defeat would not kill Aberdeen's hopes of progress arithmetically, with Strasbourg at home and Sparta Prague away to follow, it would certainly leave them with the longest looking of shots.

Noah – who have a record of one win, a draw and a defeat from their three games – are not household names despite winning their domestic league double, but Thelin points out that "the football world is big there are a lot of good teams out there".

He is expecting "a tight game" against a side that have good individuals and "a good rhythm" to their game.

Thelin thinks his own team "is growing", having lost just one of their last six domestic league fixtures, including four wins and four clean sheets.

"The pressure is there, we can feel every game that it is growing when you are not winning, but the players and the staff have taken step by step," he said.

Thelin thinks his side have "improved a lot" their ability to dig out results.

"We still have the long term to play better, but when it is not working, sometimes when the opponents are better in general, there are still opportunities to win a football game and there I think the players have grown a lot in this mental capacity," he added.

Noah arrive with a sense of injustice from their weekend domestic draw at home to Alashkert, during which they conceded two penalties and a red card, with head coach Sandro Perkovic saying the standard of refereeing was killing Armenian football.

The Croat says his side have to aim for a win because the league is only six games long but stressed: "In my opinion, no team in the Conference League can be favourites here in this stadium.

"Aberdeen is one very strong team with a lot of quality individuals. It will be a really hard match for us."

Perkovic added that, although Scottish football was superior in terms of supporter numbers, infrastructure and stadiums, he did not think there was a gap in terms of player quality.

Team news

Aberdeen are boosted by the return of Jesper Karlsson after the Swedish winger missed the weekend win over Scottish Premiership leaders Heart of Midlothian because of a family matter.

The only player unavailable is defender Kristers Tobers, who remains sidelined long term with a knee injury.

Who are Noah?

Noah have had a nomadic existence in their first eight years as a club and are currently based in Abovyan, just to the north of Armenia's capital Yerevan.

Last season, they won the Armenian title for the first time and won the cup too, while becoming the first team ever to reach the league phase of the Conference League having started from the first qualifying round.

After falling in the Champions League and Europa League qualifiers, a convincing 7-3 aggregate victory over Slovenian champions NK Olimpija Ljubljana got them back into Uefa's third-tier competition.

Already, they have four points after a 1-0 win over Croatia's Rijeka, a 1-1 draw with Romania's Universitatea Craiova and a 2-1 defeat by Czech side Sigma Olomuc.

The squad is technically sound and strong going forward, having scored in 10 of their 11 European matches this season.

Foreign imports make up 15 of the 24 players in their European squad.

Brazilian forward Matheus Aias and Portuguese winger Helder Ferreira bring quality in the final third, having scored 11 goals between them this season. Aias got 19 in total last term and seven in the Conference League alone.

Bosnian striker Nardin Mulahusejnovic has netted seven this season, including one in each of their three league phase matches so far, and will be a strong presence in the box.

However, Noah have won just twice away from home all season and have just one victory in their last seven matches and they are down in fifth place as they attempt to defend their title.

Match statistics

• Noah have never faced Scottish opposition, while this is the first time Aberdeen have faced a side from Armenia.

• Noah lie 17th in the Conference League after one win, one draw and one defeat, while Aberdeen are 33rd (fourth bottom) after one draw from their four games.

• Aberdeen have gone five games in European football without a victory.

• Noah are in the Conference League for the second season running, finishing 31st last season.

• Aberdeen secured their first Conference League point last time out, drawing 0-0 away to Larnaca, while Noah lost 2-1 at home to Sigma Olomouc.

• Aberdeen are unbeaten in four outings, beating Scottish Premiership leaders Heart of Midlothian 1-0 last time out at Pittodrie on Sunday.

• Saturday's 2-2 draw at home to Alashkert means Noah have not won in three outings and have won once in seven since beating Rijeka 1-0 at home in the Conference League.

• Noah sit fifth in the Armenian top flight while Aberdeen are eighth in the Scottish Premiership.