Aberdeen captain Kevin Nisbet has said nobody in the squad can take their place for granted under Stephen Robinson, after he was among four players substituted at half-time in Wednesday night's defeat at Celtic.
Nisbet required stitches for a cut after taking a blow to the head, but said he was desperate to continue. Robinson made tactical changes, and the striker believes the improved second-half performance justified the decision.
Head knock and tactical change
“I got an elbow to the side of the head and I got staples in a cut at half time,” the Scotland international explained. “I wasn’t concussed or anything and it was a superficial wound to be honest. I wanted to play on but the gaffer wanted to make changes to be the line-up which was fine.”
“It wasn’t about my head it was about trying to get a bit more pace up top in the second half. The aim was to stretch Celtic a bit more after the break and I think it worked to an extent to be fair.”
“Bringing Connor Ronan on saw us control the game a bit more in the second half which was good. We passed the ball a bit better and created a few chances as well as we tried to get at Celtic. Although we had to do more about damage limitation in what was a tough night for us.”
Form and Scotland talk
Nisbet has scored nine goals this season and is expected to add to that when Kilmarnock visit Pittodrie this weekend. Despite being tipped for a Scotland recall, he said his focus remains on Aberdeen.
“I’m not too sure I’ve scored many away goals but I do feel I’ll score when I play at home,” the 29-year-old said. “I just really like scoring at Pittodrie for some reason, maybe because games have got away from us far too easily away from there.”
“It’s hard to put your stamp on matches in that situation but we look a completely different team at home. We’ll certainly be going all out to get the three points against Kilmarnock and hopefully I can contribute.”
“I don’t think about Scotland too much and I don’t think in my career I have looked too far ahead. It’s just about going out trying to perform to my best for Aberdeen.”
“My best ever season was 34 goals for Raith but I just take things to Christmas then I’ll set myself targets from there. It does help on a personal level to be scoring so regularly so far but the most important thing is to win the game.”
Captaincy and standards
Nisbet took over the captain's armband from Graeme Shinnie at the start of the season after the veteran joined Inverness. He said he has tried to lead in his own way while maintaining standards, with the leadership group at Pittodrie also contributing.
“I demand standards on and off the park and I can be a little bit moany if I’m being honest,” he said. “I want the boys to be well and I know when the boys aren’t doing what I know they are capable of.”
“They definitely get told if that’s the case but I hold myself to high standards and I know when that’s dipped. Graeme Shinnie was a good role model in terms of what he did here but I want to put my own stamp on the club.”
“The good thing is I have Jack Milne who can organise the more social side and Nicky Devlin sorts the wives and girlfriend side. That creates more a family feeling about the club so I do the fines and the more moaning at people jobs.”
“I think Graeme did it all himself for years and I don’t know how he coped so it’s good to share the workload. Part of the job is helping players from outwith Scotland to settle in to the faster, more physical game up here.”
“It’s totally different as I played in England as well it’s a bit slower and you don’t get time on the ball so much here. I think the boys that have come in have taken time to adapt but when they are up to speed we will do well.”
“But the fact is you have got to win games so it’s more on the older, more experienced players to pull them through right now.”
