24 December 2020

Ash Taylor expects Aberdeen to take a step forward in new year

24 December 2020

Aberdeen defender Ash Taylor believes his team can find an extra gear in the second half of the season.

The Dons are comfortably in the top four of the Scottish Premiership following Wednesday’s goalless draw at Motherwell and are just two points off Celtic in second place.

Manager Derek McInnes has had to deal with Covid-19 disruption and a host of injuries throughout the campaign but the Dons have only suffered one league defeat on the road in the whole of 2020.

They now have four of their next six Premiership games at Pittodrie starting with the Boxing Day visit of St Johnstone.

And Taylor is looking to push on even more.

The centre-back said: “I still feel we are looking at that complete 90-minute performance.

“We have had large spells throughout games this season but we want to put that 90 minutes together. That will come and hopefully we can kick on even more in the new year.

“I feel there is is still more to come from us as a squad and a team. I feel if we can continue our run of form and put those performances together, we can have a good crack at it this year and push as much as we can.”

McInnes will come face to face with a man he knows well when the Dons take on Callum Davidson’s St Johnstone.

The former Saints boss said: “They look a well-coached team.

“I signed Callum for St Johnstone and I know him well. He has put his stamp on that team.

“It’s a different system and a different way of playing from how they have been over the years, and they have had some decent results as a consequence of that.

“Any time you play St Johnstone, certainly this season with the way Callum has got his team set up, they are a tough nut to crack. We have got to try and overcome that.”

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