Aberdeen manager Mark McGhee is convinced his side is good enough to finish in the top four of the SPL.
Consistency of performance and finding a way to score goals will be crucial.
And McGhee has statistics on his side which suggest the Dons are more than capable of finishing inside the top half of the SPL table when the league splits after 33 matches.
After 15 matches, the Dons have won four, drawn six and lost five and have 18 points in sixth place in the table. Twelve months ago, under Jimmy Calderwood, the Dons were seventh after 15 matches with five wins, three draws and seven losses and 18points. They finished fourth. In season 2007-08, the Dons were sixth after 15 matches, with 21 points from six wins and three draws on their way to a fourth-place finish.
The previous year, season 2006-07, the Dons were in second place in the table, with seven wins and four draws giving them 25 points from their opening 15 fixtures on their way to a third-place finish.
Ifs, buts and maybes are the curse of any manager, but McGhee is convinced his squad has the quality to climb the table.
The standard of player in the SPL is also on the wane as the leading 12 clubs in the country cannot compete with the lower-league salaries on offer in England.
McGhee’s faith will be tested to the full this weekend when third-placed Hibs visit Pittodrie.
Victory for the Edinburgh club would move them 14 points clear of the Dons, while fourth-placed Dundee United already have a nine-point cushion on McGhee’s men.
McGhee said: “I believe we are capable of finishing in the top four this season. That’s not rhetoric, it’s based on what I have seen in games and from what I have seen of the other teams.
“We have lost games against Hibs and Dundee United which I think were there for us to win.
“Against United at Pittodrie we should have scored first.
“Goals change games and down at Hibs we were undermined by the sendings-off and there have been other games which we should have won.
“We should have beaten Motherwell and I think we would have had Gary McDonald not been sent off.”
Hibs manager John Hughes is flavour of the month following his club’s promising start to the season, but McGhee said: “The performances have been there against teams which are apparently favourites to finish in the top four.
“I have no fears we can find consistency. There is still plenty of time and games to do that.
“We still have to play these teams a couple of times again and in Hibernian’s case three times. There is a long, long way to go.
“We have to put the ball in the back of the net when we get chances, but against Hamilton on Saturday we just did not play well.
“If we can put that behind us quickly we are just as likely to play well on Saturday against Hibs.”
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