'Spectacular turnaround' in home form since Warnock reign

Pittodrie will be full again on Saturday as Aberdeen welcome Hibernian to the Granite City just a few weeks on from the thrilling finale in the capital that saw the sides play out a 3-3 draw.

When you consider what was going on in the old stadium just 10 months ago, it's pretty startling the Dons have only lost twice on their own patch this calendar year as they attempt to win for the first time in six weeks.

Those losses came to St Johnstone in February and the recent defeat to Celtic.

During the infamous Neil Warnock episode they were 3-0 down to Motherwell after 26 minutes at home and while they managed a draw out of that one, the defeat to Saints a fortnight later left them in dire straits. Warnock said after the game: "At this moment, you can't see us winning another game."

Since Warnock uttered those words, the Dons' Pittodrie record is played 19, won 16, with just that one defeat and two draws including last time out against St Johnstone. It has been a spectacular turnaround.

When you walk through the city, it has felt like there's something in the air when it comes to the football team and that is borne out in the home attendances with record consecutive sell-outs.

However, Warnock's successor Jimmy Thelin will have been scratching his head during Aberdeen's mini hiatus over the last two weeks as he tries to arrest a run that has seen them win just once in their last seven outings.

That has allowed Celtic to move off into the distance at the top and Rangers have eaten away the Dons' previous nine-point advantage in second spot, so Thelin will be very keen to get the engine running again with a sequence of games against sides the supporters will be expecting them to take points from."