Barry Robson has called out the SPFL over a torturous fixture schedule for his Aberdeen side.
The Pittodrie boss wholly accepts performances following Europa Conference League matches haven't been good enough but suggested fixture planning hasn't helped matters.
To further compound Robson's frustrations, this afternoon's opponents Hibs played 24 hours earlier in midweek in the build-up to the Viaplay Cup semi-final. The fixture switch was confirmed in September following a request from both clubs.
“We’ve got four games off of the back of Europe away from home and we’re up in Aberdeen as well," sighed Robson when quizzed on a travel-intensive fixture list.
“When you look at our fixture list, what we’ve played and what we’ve got coming (extends arms)…..but it’s good, it’s what we want. We want to be here playing all these big games.
“We want to be in there fighting and it’s going to be difficult as it’s the first time some of these players have ever done it. It doesn’t need me to tell the league that they should [be doing more]. They should and they have to.
“Hibs got to play on Tuesday, we had to play on Wednesday, and then they make us play Saturday. That’s fair again eh?
READ MORE: Motherwell 2 Aberdeen 4: Jamie McGrath at the double
“After the other games when they’ve given us four away from home on the back of Europe. They’ve been really good to us."
Pressed on whether a case could or would be made to the league, Robson added: "You’ve just got to get on with it. I’m not going to get into it because the most important part for us is to try and perform tomorrow and we will do that."It’s not something for today but we all know it isn’t right."
On the double-edged privilege and plight of competing in Europe, Robson added: “We know we’ve struggled off the back of Europe. West Ham have struggled off the back of Europe.
“Tactically we have been very good and the players’ numbers have been very good. It’s the emotional side that has caught us out.
“I remember as a player hearing that Champions League music and then playing the game which came after that was always really tough. I’ve walked in their shoes, I know how they are feeling. We just have to get better at handling it.
“But tactically the players have been good and hopefully we can get it right tomorrow and deliver.
“We need to get every little detail right to win."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here