Aberdeen

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter in Larnaca

Image source, SNS

Aberdeen defender Mats Knoester says the players owe the fans – and themselves – in Larnaca as they aim to bounce back from last month's Conference League humiliation.

The Dons' 6-0 trhashing by AEK Athens - the heaviest European defeat in the club's history - leaves them bottom of the standings without a point from their opening two games.

They will need to show a vast improvement in Cyprus on Thursday night against an AEK Larnaca side that are joint top having won both their opening matches.

Defender Knoester said: "I think we owe them a better performance, the fans, but also ourselves. A performance that is not like us, we can do way better if you look at our team, our quality, so I definitely think we owe them something.

"If we learn from last time and do things better like we did in the league game against Kilmarnock, which isn't an easy game as well, we showed a totally different team, there is no reason to not be able to get a result."

Despite their continental travails, the domestic campaign has provided some evidence Aberdeen's fortunes may be starting to turn.

The 1-0 victory at Kilmarnock last Wednesday means Jimmy Thelin's side have won three of their past four league games, a sequence that includes three clean sheets.

"That is different [from European matters] but in terms of mentality it is a much better example of how to live a game," Knoester added.

"I think we have showed after a few hits that we come back as a team, we stay together and we get a result so we definitely showed positive things in that.

"That is not a guarantee for Thursday night or whatever game is coming next so we have to do the same again and again.

"But I do believe if we big up the right rhythm that we can get good results."

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter in Larnaca

Image source, Getty

The trip to Cyprus has proved popular with Aberdeen fans, with the club quickly selling out their 800 allocation.

More have travelled in the hope of getting a ticket while they are here, although the sunshine and bars are not a bad consolation should those hopes remain just that.

As one lady told me, she was looking forward to sipping a few cocktails while her husband and kids are at the game.

In between their pints - and slapping on the sun lotion - quite a few members of the Red Army have given me their thoughts on the fixture and are optimistic despite a difficult start to the season.

Yes, AEK Larnaca are a very good side who have flourished so far in the Conference League, but the Dons support appear to be taking confidence from a recent turnaround in their team's domestic form.

However, the continental stage is a very different proposition, as Jimmy Thelin and his players found out in their last Euro outing, the 6-0 hammering at AEK Athens.

But the punters who have journeyed south seem convinced lessons will have been learned from that Greek tragedy - we will find out if they have later tonight.

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter in Larnaca

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin has been speaking to the media before Thursday's Conference League game with AEK Larnaca in Cyprus.

Here are the key lines from the Dons boss:

• Thelin says the 6-0 thrashing by AEK Athens - the Dons' heaviest-ever European defeat - was "a big learning point" and he wants his side to be "calmer" and show a "different kind of Aberdeen".

• Having begun with two defeats while Larnaca have full points, Thelin insists his side are "absolutely not" going into the game with a sense of trepidation or fear.

• He added: "We have to learn quickly", explaining they are looking forward to the challenge against the Cypriots.

• On whether Aberdeen can still qualify for the knockout stages: "Nothing is impossible. You have to believe it, you have to try."

• He describes AEK as "a good team, a really well balanced team".

• Team news: Emmanuel Gyamfi is available after a spell out. Sivert Heltne Nilsen and Ante Palaversa miss out but are likely to return after the international break, while Alfie Dorrington faces up to four weeks on the sidelines.

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter in Larnaca

Image source, Getty Images

Larnaca head coach Imanol Idiakez says a team from Cyprus being seen as favourites to beat Aberdeen is an example of how football levels have become "more balanced" between nations.

The Spaniard's side host the Scottish Premiership outfit next in the Conference League after what he describes as "a miracle" 1-0 win away to Crystal Palace.

"It is very clear, for example, in Cyprus the league has grown up a lot in the last few years," former Deportivo de La Coruna head coach Idiakez said.

"All the clubs invest really well, they are doing really well, a good job and now in football the distances are really close everywhere.

"So you have to respect everyone. In the last 20 years in football, more or less everybody trains well, work well, has good physicality, good players, good tactics, so at this level you have to be really good in the details, go further.

"I think this is really nice for football because now you can see some crazy things - for example, like AEK Larnaca beating Crystal Palace in England, which is like a miracle."

Larnaca are second top of the Conference League after also beating AZ Alkmaar 4-0, while Aberdeen are bottom with two defeats.

However, Idiakez, who is in his second spell in charge, insisted: "If you take the history of Aberdeen, you take the history of AEK, it is clear which club made the biggest thing in their history, so at this moment we are good, we have six points, we are really happy for this, but we absolutely respect Aberdeen.

"They have high quality in front, Lazetic, Armstrong, Karlsson, Jensen. Probably, you see only the results from the last period, you can think that they are not good, but they are a really good team with high-quality players in front, good organisation."

Liam McLeod
BBC Sport Scotland Commentator

Before this season's Conference League kicked off, a computer predicted Aberdeen would finish bottom of the league phase while also suggesting the Scottish Cup winners faced the most difficult fixture list of the 36 clubs involved.

So far, both those predictions are on course to be accurate.

Last Wednesday's victory over Kilmarnock, which made it three wins and three clean sheets in their past four in the Premiership, was encouraging, albeit amid the backdrop of a rearguard action in the second half in Ayrshire.

But as the Dons return to the European stage this week, ensuring it is not an embarrassing campaign has to be at the forefront of Jimmy Thelin's mind, even if domestic matters supersede it.

Aberdeen have a proud European history which was dragged through the mud in Athens last time out as they travel to Cyprus to take on the other AEK, Larnaca.

Cypriot sides used to be among the whipping boys of continental football, not so much these days. Blazing a trail were APOEL, who reached the Champions League quarter-finals in 2012.

And the Dons don't have to look too far back in the annals to find their own troubles with a side from the Mediterranean island, with Apollon Limassol putting Derek McInnes' team to the sword in Europa League qualfying in 2017.

Cypriot cup winners AEK, who beat champions Pafos to win the Super Cup last week, sit second in the Conference League table after two matches with only Serie A strugglers Fiorentina ahead of them.

Larnaca hammered Dutch side AZ 4-0, albeit aided by an early red card, before going on to beat a strong Crystal Palace team in London. And given their remaining fixtures they'll fancy topping the table at the conclusion of the league phase.

For the Dons to have any future in this tournament this season, they cannot afford to lose and may need to win, though just getting off the bottom would be progress right now.

Glen Schreuder
Fan writer

Can Aberdeen build on the much-needed win over Kilmarnock?

It was backs to the walls at times last midweek at Rugby Park but another 1-0 away victory brought some feelgood factor to the Dons.

Dylan Lobban, 16, became the latest graduate of the academy to make his Aberdeen debut.

He was a shining light in a defence that has the fourth best record in the league - 11 goals conceded in 10 games - despite our lowly position of ninth.

We saw why with a resilient second-half performance as Kilmarnock laid siege to our goal at times.

Winning 'ugly' and grinding out a victory like that should give this team confidence. Not just for Thursday night's trip to face an AEK Larnaca team yet to concede in the Conference League, but for the upcoming Premiership games against Motherwell and Hearts.

We haven't had all the luck, maybe we finally got some of what we have been missing. Now to keep it consistent.

Glen Schreuder can be found at Red Tinted Glasses, external

Image source, SNS

Aberdeen are "saddened" following the death of former defender Willie Young, aged 73.

Young made 188 Dons appearances between 1970 and 1975 and scored 14 goals.

He moved to England, initially with Tottenham and subsequently played for Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, Norwich City, Brighton and Darlington.

"Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this difficult time," Aberdeen said on X.

Image source, SNS

Hibernian are closely watching midfielder Dante Polvara, who is out of contract with Aberdeen next summer and has yet to agree an extension. (Record), external

Read Saturday's Scottish gossip

Sportscene pundit Neil McCann analyses Aberdeen's 1-0 victory at Kilmarnock and the influence of Stuart Armstrong.

Image source, SNS

Victory over Kilmarnock in midweek on was much needed for Aberdeen after the 6-0 thrashing by AEK Athens and league defeat to Hibs.

Jimmy Thelin has been under the spotlight amid the Dons' early-season struggles, but Scottish coach and analyst John Walker says the club may have to go through a turbulent process to reach their future aspirations.

"That's their third clean sheet in four league games" he told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"If you take the AEK Athens battering out of that, I think you would be hard pushed to say Aberdeen aren't slightly getting together with the new signings they've made and getting a wee bit of a semblance of form back.

"I just sometimes think Aberdeen fans are quick to jump on it.

"They're building what they're building, appointing new heads of recruitment, bringing in a manager, trying to bring in a new style, they're trying to set themselves up for success over maybe five or 10 years rather than the next 18 to 24 months.

"They won a Scottish Cup six months ago. Rangers fans would kill for that now. So I do think sometimes you maybe just have to suffer a little bit.

"I know the form at the end of the league last season was dreadful. I know they were terrible going into that cup final, but they finished it off with a cup win against Celtic to get into European football.

"I think Aberdeen will be fine - it just depends whether the fans are willing to go with them or not."

Swansea City striker Bobby Wales is attracting increasing loan interest from both sides of the border after Aberdeen failed to secure a deal for the former Kilmarnock player in the summer. (Aberdeen Live), external

We asked for your views after Aberdeen returned to winning ways with a 1-0 victory at Kilmarnock.

Here are some of your comments:

Andrew: A classic case of smash and grab. The xG of 0.07 for the Dons would suggest we were lucky to get three points but the first-half performance was fairly dominant. The second half was however a hard watch, some very desperate defending. Killie shelled in balls to the box but our much-criticised defence stood strong. Hard watch at times but definitely something to build on.

Eric: We needed something from this game and a win is a win. It wasn't pretty at times but the fight was there. We really do need a settled side, as at times there was no cohesion at all, but they all put in a shift. Great to see Dylan Lobban getting involved as we must have homegrown young talent coming through.

Andrew: An ugly, welcome three points. The last two away results are just what we need to grind out in this league.

Rory: I support Jimmy Thelin now. He has won three league games in a short space of time. Added to European pressures, he has done well. He has switched Aberdeen from being cut adrift to now four points clear of bottom. And looking up the table. He deserves patience now.

Fred: Great to get a win and very pleasing to see Lobban getting a start. A clean sheet is a real bonus but where are our strikers? I hope this is not another false dawn.

Ed: Three vital points, what a relief, but again we were so slow with and without the ball in both directions. Jogging not running and we couldn't string two passes together. Are the Dons just really unfit or have they been at the Pittodrie pies? Jimmy still just about has my vote (better than a Warnock), but we need the basics to be better please.

Watch the highlights as Aberdeen overcome Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership (UK only).

Charlotte Cohen
BBC Sport Scotland

Image source, SNS

Aberdeen picked up their third domestic victory of the season and, while it was a much-needed win, it was far from convincing.

For the first half against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park, they were well on top. They had four shots, three on target, as well as two efforts inside the box.

And they made their advantage count when Stuart Armstrong scored the only goal with 18 minutes on the clock in Ayrshire.

But the second half was an entirely different story for Jimmy Thelin's side.

Kilmarnock started on the front foot and even had a goal disallowed for offside in the early stages of the second period.

As the clock ticked down, they kept pushing and Aberdeen had to put in a serious defensive shift to keep their precarious advantage intact.

"We've played a game where we've had the majority of the ball, the majority of chances, majority of corners, all the pressure," Kilmarnock manager Stuart Kettlewell said after the final whistle.

And he wasn't wrong. Kettlewell's side had 11 shots, 10 of which came inside Aberdeen's box. They also had 19 touches in the penalty area (compared to the visitors' five) as well as 39 final third entries (Aberdeen had 34).

Kilmarnock put in 25 crosses (Aberdeen had three) and won six corners compared to Aberdeen's one.

Image source, Opta

Image source, Opta

"The amount of balls that went into their box in the second half was quite unbelievable," former Aberdeen captain Willie Miller said on Sportsound.

"It just kept coming, waves of attack. It wasn't silky soccer it was straightforward to put the Aberdeen defence under pressure.

"Aberdeen at times were riding their luck and getting bodies in front of strikes from inside and outside the box, clearing ones off the line."

Thelin's side made 12 tackles in the second half and won six of them while committing 17 fouls and picking up six bookings for their trouble.

But the Dons head coach hailed his players' mentality to come away with a much needed victory in Ayrshire.

"We have to have this fighting spirit to take three points," Thelin said. "It was a really important win for us.

"Also, the way we win the game, we know [Kilmarnock] are good in these situations around the box, how they can overload the box, their set plays, they are a really strong team there.

"I'm really proud of the players."

Aberdeen recorded successive away league wins for the first time since September 2024 to move up to 10th in the Scottish Premiership and level with Kilmarnock.

Read the match report here.

Give us your thoughts here.

Image source, SNS

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin tells BBC Scotland: "It was a really important win for us. Also, the way we win the game, we know [Kilmarnock] are good in these situations around the box, how they can overload the box, their set plays, they are a really strong team there.

"I'm really proud of the players. Of course, Dylan [Lobban] made his first game today and did super good. A lot of young players now are pushing for game time and when they get the chance, they are ready.

"Our supporters travelling down here on a Wednesday night support us in a tough situation. We need that energy and we need them all the time. It was good to give something back today. I think we are in this together. It's not for me or for us, it's for our fans and our club. The belief is still there.

"The energy is there every day in the training session, but we have struggled with the rhythm of the game. We have struggled in some parts with individual responsibility in the 50-50 duels, but the players showed they can do it. Now we just need to find the consistency.

"We have to have this fighting spirit to take three points and we did it really well today."

Liam McLeod
BBC Sport Scotland Commentator

Penny for the thoughts of Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack as he took his seat at Pittodrie for Sunday's spirit-sapping defeat at home to Hibernian, a game that kicked off about 30 minutes after the first Dons manager he sacked had led Hearts eight points clear at the top of the Premiership.

In fairness, Derek McInnes' time at Pittodrie was reaching a natural conclusion when it happened. Having not been backed in his final transfer window, a summer departure was always in the offing regardless of Cormack pushing the button and replacing him with Stephen Glass.

But as McInnes leads a surprising title charge from his new home in Edinburgh, Cormack's heavy investment in the Jimmy Thelin story is not looking too clever.

The brief respite brought by wins over Dundee and St Mirren has been replaced by a mortifying record European defeat in Greece and a 2-1 loss to Hibs. For anyone who watched the latter, David Gray's side were worthy of a much more emphatic scoreline.

It is now seven wins in 36 Premiership matches going back almost 12 months, two shy of a full campaign quota of fixtures. For context, automatically relegated St Johnstone won nine of their 38 games last season.

In truth, Aberdeen didn't look like a side capable of coming from a goal down against Hibs. Thelin has only overseen a comeback victory in the league twice since taking over, against Hearts and Motherwell in home games last season.

Until now, Cormack and his board have continually backed Thelin but with Kilmarnock to come on Wednesday night in Ayrshire, that Scottish Cup victory is doing some very heavy lifting right now.

Image source, SNS

• Kilmarnock's Stuart Kettlewell has lost eight of his 11 games against Aberdeen as a manager in the Scottish Premiership (W2 D1 – including as joint-manager with Steven Ferguson at Ross County), although did win his most recent 2-0 with Motherwell in January last season.

• Kilmarnock have won their past four home league games against Aberdeen - as many as their previous 24 beforehand (W4 D5 L15).

• The away side has lost nine of the past 10 league matches between Aberdeen and Kilmarnock, with the exception a 1-0 Killie win at Pittodrie in December 2023.

• Kilmarnock have only won one of their past six home league games (D2 L3), losing as many of those fixtures (3) as they had in their previous 17 (W9 D5 L3).

• After beating St Mirren 1-0, Aberdeen could secure successive away league wins for the first time since September 2024 (run of three).

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Image source, SNS

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin has already had "some really good conversations" with new sporting Director Lutz Pfannenstiel and says "the picture we share is really aligned".

The Dons this week confirmed the German will be responsible for "all football and performance areas" when he starts on 10 November.

He joins a club who have won just three of 15 games across all competitions this season and are currently second bottom of the Scottish Premiership.

Speaking prior to Wednesday night's league trip to Kilmarnock, Thelin dismissed the suggestion Pfannenstiel's impending arrival could threaten his future.

He said: "No, we are totally aligned with what we want to do, I think we always need to help each other to achieve our goals in working at this club and where we want to be in the future.

"Of course me and Lutz speak sometimes about what we are looking to do going forward and we have some ideas so I am looking forward to seeing him when he arrives here.

"We have had some really good conversations and the picture we share is really aligned and he is really hungry and he is looking forward to coming here to start working."

Since Thelin arrived at Pittodrie in the summer of last year, the club have regularly stated they are working to a three-year plan.

However, while he delivered Scottish Cup glory last term, the Swede is coming under mounting pressure amid their disastrous start to this campaign.

Far from feeling threatened, he is welcoming the arrival of Pfannenstiel as he looks to get the club moving in the right direction again.

"Sometimes people are too protective, but I am a simple guy who likes cooperation and we try to involve everyone at this club to make the responsibility," Thelin added.

"If it is the physios, the fitness coaches, everybody has to be on top of their job and you more sometimes don't think that you know everything, you need more people with knowledge.

"We have a big squad and we need to support and help all of those players to make the next steps."

Image source, SNS

Kilmarnock keeper Max Stryjek will be out with a health issue for another 16 weeks. Lewis Mayo (calf) and Jamie Brandon (ankle/groin) are serious doubts while Kyle Magennis is back after a muscle complaint.

Djenairo Daniels remains sidelined after undergoing knee surgery while Marley Watkins is working his way back from a heel injury along with Matty Kennedy.

Aberdeen remain without Emmanuel Gyamfi and Kristers Tobers (knee) and will make a late decision on Alfie Dorrington.