Aberdeen

Slobodan Rubezic admits "many people find my decision strange" to re-join Novi Pazar on loan, but the 24-year-old centre-half says he does not want to talk publicly about the personal issues that led to his surprise departure from Aberdeen. (National)

Novi Pazar do not have the option to buy Rubezic, who has been dealing with matters outside of football, at the end of the defender's loan from Aberdeen this summer. (Record), external

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Dundee forward Seb Palmer-Houlden returns while Billy Koumetio (ankle) and Scott Fraser (groin) remain out.

Aberdeen goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov is back in the squad after injury.

Jamie McGrath, Gavin Molloy (both shoulder), Ester Sokler (hamstring), Dante Polvara (leg), Vicente Besuijen (knee) and Jack Milne (ankle) remain out.

Jimmy Thelin has welcomed the return from injury of goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov for Saturday's game at Dundee as Aberdeen attempt to end a club record 14-game winless run in the league.

The 28-year-old has missed the past eight games after a shortlived comeback from a hamstring problem.

"Mitov will be inside the squad tomorrow," manager Thelin said.

"That's a slide in the right direction. We have three good goalkeepers, it was a good start to the season and having competition in the squad is good.

"Ester [Sokler], Jack Milne and Dante Polvara are training more and more on the pitch but it's still some weeks until they are available for the squad."

Thelin has told his players they must "do everything" to reward the support of fans after being "amazed" by demand for tickets for the trip to Dens Park.

The 2,900 away allocation is sold out and Thelin said: "It's amazing. Everybody know this is a big club. For me to live here and feel it, the history is one thing, a good thing.

"You can also build a strong future, depending on history and the passion around people who work for the club and also people outside the club.

"It's really connected and that's why you have to be proud and take responsibility when you belong to this club and community, to do everything you can.

"That's what we talked about after the Hibs game. We have to do everything we can to support this and be our best every day because the support we have is amazing."

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Charlotte Cohen
BBC Sport Scotland

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Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premiership game at Dundee.

Here are the main points:

• Goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov is available to return after an eight-game injury absence. Ester Sokler, Jack Milne and Dante Polvara are still some weeks away.

• On Slobodan Rubezic's loan exit, Thelin says it will be "good" for the defender to get more game time and "be closer to home for personal reasons" but insists he is "still an Aberdeen player".

• The Dons boss is pleased with the level he's seeing in training and insists the new signings make the squad stronger but knows they will need time to settle in.

• On facing Dundee amid a 14-game winless league run, Thelin says "every game is a new opportunity for everyone" and stresses his team are ready to "show our best side" and "put a challenging time behind us".

• Thelin is full of praise for the supporters who are expected to travel to Dens Park in their numbers and says his team have to "be proud and take responsibility" for the fans.

• The Aberdeen manager says his side are "ready" for an exciting Scottish Cup game at home to Rangers conquerors Queen's Park.

Chris Bertram
BBC Sport Senior Journalist

Every new Aberdeen manager walks in the daunting shadow of Sir Alex Ferguson when they arrive at Pittodrie.

It usually takes no more than a game or two for fans and the outside world to conclude the new man is not going to be the second coming of 'Fergie'.

Then Jimmy Thelin pitched up. The Dons had chased the Swede for a long time before landing him and it soon became clear why they had been so patient. Ten wins from their first 11 Premiership games and a dramatic point at Celtic led to talk of a title challenge.

But if Thelin's stock rose rapidly, it has dropped even more quickly. Aberdeen have lost eight and drawn one of their past nine league games - as many defeats as in their previous 37 games.

They have gone from putting pressure on Celtic in second to fourth - just five points off slipping to eighth. Thelin, incredibly, is under pressure for his job within two months of being touted as Fergie 2.0.

His tactics and style of play have been criticised, with suggestions other teams have now worked him out.

The good news for him is the Dons next play Dundee, the leakiest side in the division and smarting from 6-0 thrashings in their past two league games.

Dundee have won just two of their past 30 league meetings with Aberdeen and Saturday's visitors have two wins out of two against the Dark Blues this season.

Aberdeen stopped the rot with a cup win last weekend but Thelin is expected to win this game. He will know that if he doesn't, he then faces exacting matches against ex-Dons boss Derek McInnes, Celtic and third-placed Dundee United.

Read all this weekend's Premiership picks

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin says he had no problem with Duk but believes it was time for the striker to move on from Pittodrie. (Press & Journal), external

Read the rest of Friday's gossip.

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Slobodan Rubezic has rejoined Serbian SuperLiga club Novi Pazar on loan until the end of the season.

The Montenegro defender signed for Aberdeen from Plavi in August 2023, and made 57 appearances for the Dons, scoring one goal.

The 24-year-old's last run out for the Pittodrie club came in the 3-0 defeat to St Mirren, where he was substituted after 40 minutes.

"Slobodan's professionalism and application since our arrival has been exemplary, however, he now believes it is the right time for him to return to Serbia in search of regular game time," said manager Jimmy Thelin.

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• Dundee have conceded more goals (53) and faced a higher expected goals against total (46.1) than any other side in the Premiership this season. Indeed, it's the most goals any side have conceded in their first 25 matches of a top-flight campaign since Dunfermline in 2011-12 (54).

• Dundee have won just two of their past 30 league meetings with Aberdeen (D8 L20), although both of those did come at home, winning 2-1 in October 2021 and 1-0 in March 2024.

• Aberdeen have won both of their league meetings with Dundee in 2024-25, as many as their previous seven matches against them beforehand (W2 D3 L2).

• Both of Dundee's past two Scottish Premiership games have been 6-0 losses (v Hearts and Celtic), making them the first side to suffer two 6+ goal margins of defeat in a single season in the competition since Motherwell in 2015-16.

• Aberdeen have lost eight of their past nine league games (D1), as many as their previous 37 beforehand (W17 D12 L8).

New signing Mats Knoester is ready to prove himself all over again at Aberdeen after seeing his dreams of playing for Feyenoord wrecked by injury. (Press & Journal), external

Read the rest of Thursday's gossip.

Liam McLeod
BBC Sport Scotland Commentator

There was a sense of relief from Jimmy Thelin on Sunday as Aberdeen made their way through to the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup for the seventh time in nine seasons.

The 3-0 win over Dunfermline has set up a last-eight clash with Rangers' conquerors Queen's Park who will make the trip to Pittodrie for a second time this season having lost out narrowly in the League Cup groups last summer.

The timing of the Dons' first two goals was crucial to the outcome as, despite dominating, it didn't look as though a goal was coming before Pape Gueye's header broke the deadlock in first-half stoppage time.

Once again, there can be no underestimating the importance of the Scottish Cup this season given the guarantee of Conference League football for the winners, unless strong favourites Celtic go on to lift it yet again.

Thelin said before kick-off that his team "had to win" and there was no question the pressure was on but the Dons ultimately took their place in the draw with minimal fuss, and focus now returns to trying to end the incredible run of 14 league games without a victory when they travel south to face Dundee.

The last time Aberdeen won a league game was against this weekend's opponents, three months ago. The last time Aberdeen won an away league game was against this weekend's opponents, almost five months ago.

Tony Docherty felt aggrieved on both occasions that his side ended up empty handed and given they have lost their past two Premiership matches 6-0 it is safe to say there will be huge motivation from the hosts.

Facing Aberdeen when on a poor run has been the perfect fixture for out-of-sorts sides recently - just look at Motherwell and St Mirren - and it's up to Thelin and his players to break that cycle. It will be interesting to see how the new-look Dons fare in this next batch of league matches with a visit from Kilmarnock to come before a daunting trip to Celtic Park.

The bottom line is that, despite the run, there remains a huge amount for Aberdeen to play for on two fronts with third place and a first Scottish Cup triumph in 35 years still there to be shot at.

Angus MacDonald's first outing since leaving Aberdeen ended in heartbreak as Exeter City came agonisingly close to a huge FA Cup shock against Nottingham Forest.

After Gary Caldwell's League One side held Forest to a 2-2 draw, debutant MacDonald thudded the bar in the shootout as hosts Exeter lost 4-2 on penalties.

"I'm obviously gutted," the defender told BBC Sport after the fourth-round tie.

"No one ever wants to miss a penalty, no one ever does it on purpose.

"I've always been one to put myself forward in a shootout - I always feel like I probably can step up and take a penalty.

"To miss, obviously I'm not going to forget about it for a little while, but it's one that I think we all need to sort of forget about, take the positives from the game and take that into the league and I'm sure we'll be absolutely fine."

Jimmy Thelin has challenged Aberdeen loanees Oday Dabbagh and Jeppe Okkels to earn permanent deals at Pittodrie between now and the end of the season. (Press and Journal, external)

Palestine international Dabbagh says he loved the "crazy atmosphere" at Pittodrie having watched the Dons' 3-0 Scottish Cup win against Dunfermline Athletic. (Press and Journal, external)

Glen Schreuder
Fan writer

Aberdeen progressed on the road to Hampden, with a 3-0 win over Dunfermline, and given our recent form it would have been easy to get tangled in a spider's web of a cup upset. Some sides find home games against lower-league teams trickier than others.

After Jimmy Thelin spoke about the need for leaders, Graeme Shinnie and Nicky Devlin were dropped to the bench. A sign of two players not meeting the expectations of the manager or was he managing minutes?

Confidence is key in football and we saw the good and bad from Kevin Nisbet. A miss Chris Iwelumo would be proud of, before tapping home the final goal to seal progression.

Off the ball Nisbet did a lot of good work while Ante Palaversa was an engine in midfield and Pape Habib Gueye was back dancing after scoring.

The highlight was our new signings, specifically man of the match Alexander Jensen scoring his first goal and an impressive debut from Mats Knoesters alongside fellow January recruit Kristers Tobers. Have we solved our defensive frailties?

We need to take this confidence to Dens Park this weekend as our cup form (the only competition in which we have won in 2025) needs to translate to the league.

The race for third is hotting up, as is the battle to remain in the top six. A win at Dundee could put us third, while defeat would see us clinging on to our top-six place.

We are entering the business stage of the season - it's time for the team to show we mean business.

Glen Schreuder can be found at Red Tinted Glasses, external

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Aberdeen will face Queen's Park in the Scottish Cup quarter-final.

Jimmy Thelin's men beat Dunfermline 3-0 in the fifth round to earn themselves a place in the quarters.

Queen's Park made it to the fifth round thanks to their sensational win over Rangers at Ibrox.

The ties will be played on the weekend of Saturday 8 March.

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Stand-in Aberdeen captain Sivert Heltne Nilsen is hopeful that Aberdeen's Scottish Cup victory over Dunfermline can turn around the Dons' dismal form.

Jimmy Thelin's side hadn't won a game at Pittodrie since 9 November - a run of six games without a victory - before the 3-0 win over the Pars on Sunday.

"It was a long time since we last won here," Nilsen told RedTV. "And it was more to get a good performance, everybody on the same page, be aggressive, try to press high as much as possible and be dangerous with a lot of players in the box.

"We saw some of the images that we wanted to see and we had a quite good feeling in the game. When we win, it's a nice feeling, so let's see."

Aberdeen's two wins in the Cup - the other coming against League Two side Elgin City - are their only two victories in the past 16 games.

The squad rebuild at Pittodrie continued in January, with six players brought in to the ailing Dons squad. On Sunday, nine of the starting 11 had joined this season alone.

"There were some good things we can bring along," Nilsen continued. "We will look at it much later next week. Let's see what we can get out of it.

"It's very important to get a good feeling when we have so many new players in a lot of positions.

"It's a new way of playing almost, when you have new players in, that you have to learn their skills and how they want to play and how you can put them in their best situation.

"This is something we need to learn as quick as possible and also working for the future."

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Jimmy Thelin has praised the resilience of striker Kevin Nisbet after he helped seal a convincing Scottish Cup victory over Dunfermline.

Nisbet, who has only scored once since November, hit the post on Sunday before scoring the third goal in the Dons' 3-0 victory.

The result is Aberdeen's second win in 16 matches - both of which have come in the cup.

"It was an important game for us and we had to win," the manager said.

"In the first half we saw some more directness in how we attack, the things we've been working on.

"It's good to see some clear signs of how we want to look and this attacking approach.

"It's always difficult but we got a clean sheet and three goals.

"Kevin has worked really hard the last few weeks in training and he's getting sharper with every week.

"I could see in his smile after he scored that he was happy and relieved, so it's good for him and good for us."

As he was paraded as a new signing by Spanish club Leganes along with former Rangers left-back Borna Barisic, Duk said he went AWOL from Aberdeen last summer after his agent and the Scottish Premiership outfit "had a little bit of an argument", but the 24-year-old forward did not wish to reveal further details. (The National), external

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Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin has vowed it will be a more aggressive Dons team that takes to the pitch against Dunfermline in the Scottish Cup on Sunday.

The Dons boss was very critical of his side following last weekend's 2-0 defeat at Hibs, a result which extended their winless league run to 14 games.

Aberdeen knocked out League Two side Elgin City in the previous round of the competition and Thelin is hoping for a similar outcome this weekend.

"I think it is another chance for us to change the way we approach the games and the identity we want to show for our fans," he said.

"They [Dunfermline] have changed manager, they are a good team but we are also a good team we have just been out of form for a while.

"How the players have responded this week and the training sessions with the new players, we are really ready to show our fans we can win this cup game.

"Sometimes in bad runs you have to look in the mirror and from there you need to take that responsibility and change quickly.

"We are looking forward to the game and it is going to be a more intense and aggressive Aberdeen on the pitch.

"We know we have to do better, that is clear to everyone so now we have to work together to fix it.

"But the support has been there every game at home and away and that is so important to get out of this difficult run that we keep pushing together, it is the board, it is the chairman, everybody around the team is working so hard together with the supporters to find a way back to good results again."

A deadline day move from Aberdeen to Nottingham Forrest for 16-year-old defender Lewis Carrol collapsed due to administrative issues as the Premier League club failed to secure the necessary Fifa clearance. (Press & Journal), external

Read the rest of Saturday's Scottish gossip.

Colin Moffat
BBC Sport Scotland

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Dunfermline were victims of Airdrie's recent resurgence but they responded with a good derby win over Raith Rovers before tumbling out of the SPFL Trust Trophy at the semi-final stage.

New head coach Michael Tidser was well backed in the winter transfer window but the Pars' best hope on Sunday probably rests on just how atrocious hosts Aberdeen have been of late.

The Dons' dip has been astonishing, going 14 without a win in the Premiership and scoring once in their past eight league outings.

Jimmy Thelin delivered some harsh home truths last weekend and seems happy with how further talks with his players have gone, but the atmosphere at Pittodrie will be anxious and angsty if Aberdeen continue to mis-fire.

Hamilton may have been hoping to pray on frayed nerves at St Johnstone but Accies have lost three in a row without scoring, while the Premiership's bottom side have won three in a row.

Read all the Scottish Cup picks