ABERDEEN recorded their first Scottish Premiership victory since the beginning of February by defeating Dundee 1-0 on Saturday, although the freezing temperatures and scrappy game did little to inspire either set of fans.

However, there was much to celebrate for the Dons as the win took them within two points of second-placed Rangers, with a game still in hand.

Dons captain Graeme Shinnie grabbed the only goal of the game when he tapped in from close range following a Ryan Christie cross and the left-back was delighted to have scored only his second goal of the season.

“It came off my studs!,” he admitted.

“It took about an hour to come down. There was thoughts going through my head. ‘Do I blast this or will it end up in the Merkland?’ In the end I just ended up sclaffing it into the back of the net. It was a weird one because it felt like it was too easy. I’ve never had one of them in my life, so it’s good.”

Aberdeen’s win means they can now leapfrog Rangers into second place if they win their game in hand but Shinnie is adamant that his team are not focusing on the Glasgow club or what they are doing, rather, they are concentrating only on what they can affect themselves. And with a Scottish Cup semi-final against Motherwell coming up next month, the team from the north-east have plenty to keep them occupied.

“Our form has been good - it’s something that we need to have in the run-in,” he said.

“With the results this weekend, it’s important that we keep winning. We’re focussed on what we want to do and getting back to winning ways was important for us. We want to get to a semi-final as well. That is w.hat matters to us.”

Dundee may not have picked up any points on Saturday but their performance was much improved from recent showings. Darren O’Dea was, therefore, upbeat in the aftermath of the match, although admitted that Aberdeen’s pitch made it impossible to play good football. “We conceded a poor goal and came off the wrong end of the scoreline but the reaction to last week was very good,” he said.

“But the pitch is a disgrace. I don’t want to start going round all the teams but it is the worst I have played on for a long while.”

ABERDEEN recorded their first Scottish Premiership victory since the beginning of February by defeating Dundee 1-0 on Saturday although the freezing temperatures and scrappy game did little to inspire either set of fans.

However, there was much to celebrate for the Dons as the win took them within two points of second-placed Rangers, with a game still in hand.

Dons captain Graeme Shinnie grabbed the only goal of the game when he tapped in from close range following a Ryan Christie cross and the left-back was delighted to have scored only his second goal of the season.

“It came off my studs!,” he admitted.

“It took about an hour to come down. There was thoughts going through my head. ‘Do I blast this or will it end up in the Merkland?’ In the end I just ended up sclaffing it into the back of the net. It was a weird one because it felt like I had too much time and it was too easy. I’ve never had one of them in my life, so it’s good.”

Aberdeen’s win means they can now leapfrog rangers into second place if they win their game in hand but Shinnie is adamant that his team are not focusing on the Glasgow club or what hey are