Copyright dailyrecord
Euro hero Jack Milne believes Aberdeen are due Motherwell one. The Dons return to domestic action against the Steelmen at Pittodrie this afternoon, boosted by their battling point away to AEK Larnaca in the Conference League . Aberdeen go in against a Motherwell team who knocked them out of the Premier Sports Cup and also took all three points in their last clash after a late collapse at Fir Park. “Especially the last one (at Motherwell ) was tough to take,” Milne claimed. “We know we put in a good performance until the last few minutes and then ended up losing the game, which was disappointing. “But yes, we're due to give them one.” Aberdeen have kept three clean sheets in their last four Premiership games and that has helped them get up the table. Jimmy Thelin's side were able to take that defensive reliability into the European stage Milne was a standout at the back for Aberdeen, along with fellow academy graduate Dylan Lobban. He admitted: “Yes, it was tough. “We knew they were going to dominate the ball and play attacking football. “We know they're very technical and we knew what we were in for. “But we had a game plan and we wanted to come and win the game, but we'll take a point. “Hopefully, we can start adding those goals and get three points next time.” The academy graduate was pleased with his display and the confidence Jimmy Thelin has shown in him this season. He has, pretty much, been a first-team regular. Milne claimed: “Yes, I'm taking it game by game at the moment. “It's another clean sheet, which, for me, is the most important thing. “I’ve always been confident, but now that I've got a run of games under my belt and I've got people that believe in me and I believe in myself. “Maybe every game I'm getting better and improving and I'm working hard.” The defender also had a decent first half chance in Athens and could have been the hero at both ends. Milne is keen to add goals to his game. He said: “Yes, it just came at me a bit too fast. I think “I was showing the defender in me there. “It's something I've talked about, I love to add goals to my game, especially from set pieces. “It's something I'm trying to work on, but hopefully next time I can just expect it and put it in the back of the net.” The Dons really tightened things up after a nightmare last time out in Europe, where they were hit by six by AEK Athens. Thelin has tweaked his tactics and it has had an impact. “I think it's our approach,” the 22-year-old claimed. “We knew the performance in Athens was unacceptable. “Even the one before that in the FCSB game, we conceded a few as well. “We knew we needed to tie it up defensively. “I think the change of shape and the amount of detail that's gone in off the pitch to help us from the manager and the staff has been really good. “We feel much more solid as a unit now. As I say, if you're not conceding goals then it makes it much easier to win games.” Milne was also punished individually. He learned a harsh lesson but believes it is one he has learned a lot from. He recalled: “Tough, really disappointing. “It's football. I'm young. I'm going to make mistakes. “I’m not going to get everything right. “As you say, I wasn't in a great situation. I've looked back. “I maybe could have done better, but it's going to happen again at some point in my career. “I’ve hopefully got a long career ahead of me. “There's times I'm going to get it wrong, but it's just about trying to get that consistency and hopefully it doesn't happen very often. “I think we did a lot of reflecting. “As we said, we knew it was unacceptable and a lot of us had to have a good look at ourselves. “But that's done now. “We've got to move on and bounce back. “The past few games we've shown we can keep clean sheets.”
