It's not just last week the two sides struggled for goals as ourselves and Aberdeen have made an art of it recently. However, they also haven't lost since Christmas Eve - coincidentally the last time we managed to pick up three points. The form book would, therefore, suggest the Dons are favourite for this game but we have done reasonably well against them in recent years, particularly in our new ground.
We have reached the stage of needing to win league games if this season is going to do anything other than fizzle out. Admittedly it's an improvement on recent years when we've been in the thick of a relegation battle and there is still an outside chance of Dunfermline and Hibs catching us if they put a run together. However, assuming they don't both do that it looks as if we're going to be stuck battling for a place in the lower reaches of the bottom six. A few wins in the next month or so would have us pushing for a top six place - or top of the bottom six at worst - and have us officially secure by the split. Wouldn't that be a nice position to be in?
Aberdeen were a big part of 2011 for us - aside from them putting us out of the Scottish Cup it was them we beat to stay in the SPL and them we beat to take our first win of the season a few months later. That day was a marker of how things would pan out as we dominated for large parts of the game, created plenty of chances but only took one. That was at least better than the last few weeks when we haven't been able to take any! We must be more clinical in front of goal tomorrow if we finally want to register our first league win of the year.
It would help if Nigel Hasselbaink was in for the start. Although he's been off form for a while he looked good when he came on against Motherwell and scored against Ross County in the cup. His pace could cause Aberdeen problems - like it did when he scored against them in July - so he has to come into the team as well. We lack the height with Steven Thompson suspended so having Hasselbaink alongside Paul McGowan and Dougie Imrie would pose a different threat in terms of energy and work rate.
Arguably, if you're playing the three of them there's no point having both Gary Teale and Graham Carey in the side. Their strength is their crossing but if you have a strike force consisting solely of small people then it's a bit of a waste. But we don't exactly have too many options to replace them, Jeroen Tesselaar now joining the likes of Hugh Murray, Darren McGregor and Kenny McLean on the sidelines. The Dutchman - who is expected to be out for more than a month - is likely to be replaced by David van Zanten.
The plus point recently has been that while we've not been scoring goals we haven't been shipping them either. We've managed three clean sheets in the last three league games and Lee Mair and Marc McAusland have been doing well together, while Craig Samson has returned to his form from earlier in the season. Replacing David van Zanten with David Barron a few weeks ago was a strange move but it has obviously worked from a defensive point of view and Vanzy will probably be on the bench once again - although he could return if Jeroen Tesselaar fails to shrug off a knock.
Aberdeen boss Craig Brown was under a bit of pressure earlier in the season but has managed to turn things around in the last few months and they are one of the form teams in the division behind Celtic. They may have drawn with St Johnstone last week but their recent run means they're now in with a real chance of making the top six when it looked as if they'd be in the relegation fight. This has been a trait of Aberdeen since Jimmy Calderwood left and Brown must be cursing the fact his side didn't make a decent start to the season. If they had they could have been pushing for a place in Europe - although they still have a chance of taking fourth and then profiting from the fun and games at Rangers.
While we have a few players in their second spell at the club - like Graham Carey, David van Zanten and technically Paul McGowan - Aberdeen do as well. Midfielder Chris Clark returned from Plymouth in the summer, a good bit of business considering they raked in few hundred grand for him when he went south a few years back. In January he was joined by former team-mate Russell Anderson. The defender isn't anywhere near fit yet but if he can put the injury problems that plagued his spell in England behind him then he will be an excellent acquisition. He's even been good enough to say he'll walk away from the contract if he can't regain fitness.
Clark and Anderson both came through a youth system that has been pretty good for Aberdeen in the past decade. It may not have produced guys of the quality of old but it has done the job in the modern day and Richard Foster provided some cash when he was sold to Bristol City last month. Andrew Considine has stepped up to the plate in recent weeks with a string of outstanding performances in defence while midfielder Fraser Fyvie and Peter Pawlett both have bright futures ahead of them. Ross Jack may have one too in defence, although was rather attacking when he scored a fine goal at Parkhead earlier in the season.
Aberdeen have a pretty handy midfield that Brown decided to spend most of January strengthening - partly because of injuries to the likes of Robert Milsom and Isaac Osbourne. So in came Gavin Rae, who should never have been playing in the first division, and Stephen Hughes. The latter is a strange one as he turned down a move to Aberdeen earlier in the season and then had a less than successful spell at Motherwell - and is now injured. Brown also managed to keep a hold of Kari Arnason who has been outstanding this season, although he plans to do one in the summer.
Someone going nowhere is Scott Vernon who, like Considine, signed a new contract last month. The English striker has managed 11 goals this season to go with the 15 he got last season - a total he'll surely surpass. The problem is that while Chris Maguire was banging them in alongside him last season no one has stepped into his place, explaining why Brown signed Nigerian striker Danny Uchechi in January. Reading champion Darren Mackie has yet to score while the likes of Josh Magennis, Mohamed Chalil and New Zealand international Rory Fallon have rarely troubled the scores - although no prizes for guessing who one of the latter's goals came against is! It's perhaps a worry coming up against a load of strikers who have been struggling for goals as it's usually in these situations we're only too happy to help!
Follow Mirren Mad on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/mirrenmad
Follow Mirren Mad on Twitter @mirren_mad or http://www.twitter.com/mirren_mad