Aberdeen came from a goal down to beat Hearts 2-1 at Pittodrie, with two goals in the last five minutes. The victory made it five wins from five at the start of the season.
Head coach Stephen Robinson believes the result would not have happened with last season's squad. Robinson, who has made 12 new signings, said his team showed the fight and desire that had been missing.
'Wouldn't have happened last year'
“Yes, certainly. If you're going to win doing it in the last minute, it's going to make it a lot more exciting. What I can categorically say is that wouldn't have happened last year. When I came in I thought we lacked fight, we lacked desire.”
“But we showed, with a lot of new players as well, a back four that's never played together before, I thought they were excellent, all four of them. We played some really, really good stuff and they showed great character to come back against them. Make no mistake, Hearts are a very good side. So it's a fantastic result for us today.”
Fifth win in a row
On the winning run, Robinson said: “Yes, well, I've seen four wins now in the up as well. I think that's our fifth win in a row, is it? What I've seen was a lot of good stuff on the ball in the cup, because we dominated the ball. Today's a different test. You've got to deal with the physicality of set plays, which I thought we were excellent at. The boys we've brought in, they've got character, they've got hunger and that's something I thought the club lacked when I came here. It's only a start. It's a small step in the right direction.”
Connection with the fans
Robinson says a bond is forming with the Aberdeen supporters. “Yes, I was lucky enough when I came last year. I think the crowd was 17,000 and we were in a relegation battle. The atmosphere the fans created today was brilliant. Football's not cheap. It's costly to bring a family to watch football. As I say, the least you can do is you run to the final whistle. You play and give absolutely everything for the badge. We put a team together. I believe we'll do that.”
Rebuilding the squad
The head coach acknowledged the scale of the change. “The turnover of the team is enormous. It's certainly not ideal. It's not what you want to do, because you have a minimal amount of time to do that. You have three weeks to get a team together to play in a cup, but it was necessary. I felt the whole club needed a revamp. I felt that they needed different characters, different mindsets. People that understand this league and we'll give the fans some of the cheer.”
“But we've got a fan base that are desperate to jump on to something to give them hope. And I believe we'll give them hope today and the players will have enjoyed being part of that with the support of us, rather than maybe feeling a pressure sometimes. I get this and there's pressure to play for Aberdeen. You have to cope with it and that's why our recruitment is important. You have to be able to come here, take the criticism when it's justified. Sometimes you get it when it's not justified.”
Nisbet decisive from the spot
Kevin Nisbet scored the winner from the penalty spot, taking his tally to seven goals for the season.
On Nisbet, Robinson said: “Listen, he's clinical. That's what Kevin's there for. He's came in and said he got both goals, by the way, so I'm not sure. I haven't seen it back yet, but he's a goal scorer. If there's anybody you want to take in that pressure cooker situation, it's certainly Kevin. He wears the weight of that armband well and coped with it.”
