Dundee 0
Aberdeen 2
League (Premier Division)

Manager's Programme Notes

It is a great pleasure for us to welcome Aberdeen to Dens Park this afternoon and I would wish to add the congratulations of everyone connected with this club to the many accolades they have already received for reaching the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup.

We really couldn't have asked for any better opponents this afternoon as the Dons have not only set Scottish football alight of late but they've also been the centre of attraction throughout Europe. It is only 11 days until their big date in Gothenburg and I would wish Alex Ferguson and his men every best wish for success against the mighty Real Madrid.

To win any European trophy is an outstanding achievement but I'm sure the prospect of stealing the Cup from beneath the nose of Europe's most famous club is an exciting one for everyone connected with the Pittodriebclub.

This will be our seventh meeting with Aberdeen this season and, while such regular confrontations in such a short period of time, normally lead to familiarity breeding non-excitement, there is certainly no prospect of that happening this afternoon.

Having booked their place in two Cup Finals next month, the Dons are still going full out for the Premier Division title and there is no way our players will be standing back and admiring their skills.

Aberdeen's involvement in the Championship should guarantee a bumper crowd amd my players will be keen to use this stage to get back to the form that has been escaping us of late.

The Dundee players will require little motivation and I can assure you that they are all determined to make it as hard as they possibly can for Aberdeen.

The fixtures have landed us with a big say in the race for the Premier title and bearing in mind that our last victory was against Celtic, it is only fair that we try our very best to inflict similar damage on the Dons.

The same attitute will, of course, also apply when Dundee United visit Dens Park on the last day of the season.

After taking a point from Hibs last week we are still in contention for that "extra" UEFA place that will come about if Aberdeen, as we all hope, win the Cup Winners'Trophy in Sweden.

It is worth pointing out that although our recent form has fallen well short of what would be required for the battlefields of Europe there is a place up for grabs and who would say that, for instance, Hibs and St Mirren are any better equipped than we are.

One thing I have learned in football is that you must graciously accept all the breaks that come your way and for that reason alone we owe it to our fans to chase that vital fifth place right through until the last whistle sounds the close of the season.

We go into today's match with an unusual problem here at Dens....the lack of goals.

Last Saturday was our second successive goal-less draw and all of our fans at Easter Road would agree that Colin Kelly and the back fourplayed particularly well.

It has been my experience since taking this job that Dundee's problems were generally in the loss of goals. Scoring at the other end always appeared to be less of a problem.

It is therefore ironic that now our defence has settled down again we are finding our difficulties have switched to the "goals for" aspect of our game.

We will be be paying Alex Ferguson's troops every respect this afternoon but I can think of no better time than the present to get rid of this goal-scoring problem.