Joe Lewis urges Aberdeen to keep scrapping in race to catch Hibernian for Premiership’s third spot

CAPTAIN Joe Lewis has challenged Aberdeen to scrap for every point in the battle to overhaul Hibernian in third spot.

The 33-year-old warned the Dons have now reached a tipping point where only wins will do.

Lewis doesn’t care how those victories come – even if Aberdeen win ugly.

With only seven league games remaining, Lewis has called for the Dons to make every fixture count.

The keeper insists that must begin today against Premiership bottom side Hamilton Academical.

Lewis said: “We have to fight for every point and scrap for everything. Results are all important now.

“Performances good, bad or indifferent don’t matter anywhere near as much as the result.

“Going forward we have seven league games now to really make the most of.”

Aberdeen produced improved performances in two recent away games at Celtic – but lost both 1-0.

Plaudits and performances are secondary for the Pittodrie skipper – points are the be-all-and-end-all.

He said: “There were large parts of the games where we played really well against Celtic and were in control.

“Unfortunately we came away from both games with zero points. There has been no lack of effort or work in trying to get a result but it just hasn’t quite happened.

“It has been a combination of missed chances, a bit of wastefulness and also an element of bad luck as well. We have hit the underside of crossbars, posts, inside of the posts. A couple of inches either way and they are goals.

“There was also one that actually went over the line that wasn’t spotted. There has been a mixture of those things.

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“However, we know we can’t leave anything to chance or luck now. We have to go out and get the three points.”

Aberdeen suffered a slump in form since the turn of the year that has yielded just 10 points from a possible 36. That allowed Hibs to leapfrog the Reds into third spot.

The Easter Road club hold a four-point advantage and have also played a game fewer than Aberdeen.

The Dons have also suffered a concerning lack of goals, scoring only once, through Callum Hendry in the 1-0 defeat of Kilmarnock, in the previous eight games.

That lack of firepower has cost the Dons because the defence has primarily remained solid.

Lewis insists the attackers are doing their bit defensively but accepts they need to deliver goals.

He said: “It is a bit of a cliche but it is true that defending starts from the front. The hard work we are doing at the top end of the pitch has been a massive help towards keeping those clean sheets, as well as the good defending.

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“However, you need to be doing it at both ends of the pitch.”

As club captain the onus would be on Lewis to help the Dons squad through the rough patch that produced a club record run of six games without scoring.

Lewis said opportunities for rousing team-talks have been limited due to Covid-19 restrictions.

He said: “In different circumstances we had team events but now we are very limited in terms of what we can physically do.

“Team meetings are kept short and there are limited amounts of people in groups. However, certainly during training when we have been working we can chat away.

“It is important not to dwell on performances that haven’t got us results. But when you look at the last three games, certainly at Celtic Park we were good.

“We need to take the positives from that and convert them to get that win today.”