Willie Miller column: Ryan Hedges showed against Motherwell how important he is to Aberdeen

Andy Considine celebrates after putting Aberdeen 2-0 up against Motherwell.

Aberdeen produced the right response to their heavy defeat by Ross County both in terms of performance and result in defeating Motherwell at the weekend.

It was a very good display with plenty of chances created by the Dons in their 2-0 victory.

Aberdeen were helped by the sending off of Liam Polworth and that allowed them to create more opportunities.

But overall the Reds controlled the majority of the game.

Polworth’s ordering off impacted the match, but I don’t think it impacted the result because Aberdeen had controlled the game and played well up to that point.

The Steelmen being reduced to 10 only further strengthened the Dons’ grip on proceedings.

Motherwell’s Liam Polworth leaves the field with the physio after being sent off.

One downside for the hosts is that, despite more chances being created, the strikers at Pittodrie are still not firing on all cylinders and couldn’t find the net on Saturday.

Derek McInnes will hope that changes soon, but two defenders chipped in with Tommie Hoban and Andy Considine taking their chances well from set pieces.

McInnes and the supporters were looking for a reaction after the defeat to Ross County, which hurt, and I think they got it both in terms of the performance and the result with Aberdeen worthy winners on the day.

The impact of Ryan Hedges

Ryan Hedges’ return to the side after suspension made a big difference in attack.

Hedges has been impressive throughout the season and he demonstrated his qualities at the weekend.

The Welshman was a threat throughout the 90 minutes. His directness, pace and his eye to spot opportunities to put his team-mates in good positions make a big difference.

Hedges was unlucky not to find the net with some of his efforts and with displays like that it won’t be long before he adds to his goal tally.

Ryan Hedges, left, tries to get away from Jake Carroll.

When it comes to creating chances and also taking chances, he is a player who is becoming increasingly important for the Dons this season.

Hedges has a good understanding with his fellow forward players and his link-up play against Motherwell was very bright and helped the Reds get into good areas.

Reflecting on the game on Saturday, Hedges was the standout performer for Aberdeen in the game.

He’s shown the impact he can have on the team this season, both creating and taking chances, and now that he is available again following the red card against Rangers, hopefully there is more of the same to come.

A good league campaign to this point

The return to winning ways moves Aberdeen up to third in the league and it has been a pretty good season overall, although there have been some disappointing performances.

The table doesn’t lie, the Dons have shown good consistency and are third in the Premiership with a game in hand on Hibs.

Outwith the league, the defeats in last season’s Scottish Cup and in this term’s League Cup were disappointing.

There may be a feeling of ‘what might have been?’ in the Premiership, because Celtic have been struggling and the Reds haven’t been able to overhaul them.

If some of the draws in recent times had been turned into wins the Dons could be sitting second.