Aberdeen goalkeeper Joe Lewis feels he is on the road back to his best form after using his spell out of the team to come back stronger.

The club captain was replaced by Gary Woods for two matches after a difficult run culminated in him making costly errors during a 3-2 defeat by St Mirren.

Aberdeen lost both of their games without Lewis to make it five consecutive defeats and 10 matches without a win, and the former England squad player was recalled for last weekend’s match against Hibernian.

The 34-year-old kept a clean sheet in a 1-0 victory before helping his side to a point at Rangers in midweek.

Lewis said: “We have got a squad here and, if you don’t play well, you get dropped. I wasn’t under any illusions that I was playing really well and wasn’t deserving of losing my place.

“No-one is bigger than the team here and if you don’t play well, the manager takes you out. I had no arguments with that. I wasn’t going to throw the toys out of the pram.

“It was down to myself to work hard in the time that I wasn’t playing and work on myself and find the reasons I wasn’t playing so well, and find ways of getting back to my best.

“That’s what I have been working on and that’s what I will continue to work on, and hopefully I can get back there.

“The last two games, I feel I have done well, and I want to build on that.”

Lewis is also looking for Aberdeen to continue their mini-revival when Hearts visit Pittodrie on Saturday.

“Putting in those two performances does show a mentality and a character within the squad,” he said.

“It’s two games, no-one is going to get carried away. We need to build on that and give ourselves a platform to go forward.

“There is still a lot of work to do, we carry on doing what we are doing and trying to build and move forward.

“There are no easy games. As you have seen, there’s a lot of strange results and everyone is throwing in shocks here and there. Ross County hadn’t won all season and then go and win 5-0.

“It just shows it’s a tough league this season and there will be a lot of strange runs and results. We have to make sure we are one of the consistent ones now.”