Aberdeen v Noah: Jimmy Thelin encouraged by Aberdeen’s ability to grind out results

Jimmy Thelin is encouraged by Aberdeen’s growing ability to grind out results as they approach a “must-win” game against Armenian side Noah.

The Dons have one point from four Conference League games and are in need of a qualification lifeline at Pittodrie on Thursday.

They have shown clear signs of improvement, though, and go into the clash on the back of a four-game unbeaten run and their best result of the season, a 1-0 win over William Hill Premiership leaders Hearts.

After a poor start to the campaign, Thelin’s side have kept five clean sheets in eight matches and the Swede has increasing faith in his players to adapt to difficult circumstances.

“It is small margins,” said Thelin, who has a full squad other than long-term absentee Kristers Tobers.

“It is learning from games and how you manage them, your understanding of them, the momentum of the game, when you have it, when you don’t, when you are in a big problem, how can you manage the tempo of the game? It is one of the most important things.

“That is of course my job to help the players, but the best thing for them is to experience it, to understand that sometimes we need to increase the tempo of the game and sometimes we need to control it in another way, because the game can get away from us.

“Sometimes when it is not going perfect, you have to have a capacity to stay in the game.

“You can’t expect that every game is going to be 100 per cent how we want it to be, but there can always be the chance to win the game, so I think the team is improving a lot.

“We can still play better, but when it is not working sometimes there is still the opportunity to win the football game, so I think the players have grown a lot in their mental capacity.”

Thelin, whose side drew in Cyprus against AEK Larnaca last time out in the competition, added: “It is a must-win game if you see the table.

“Noah is a good team, they have a good manager, they have four points after some good results, so they are a difficult team for us to play, but to get through we have to win at home.”