Angus MacDonald resets Aberdeen target as he swerves 3 Conference League 'excuses' to plan Premiership rise

Angus MacDonald has come back in from the cold and is ready to help third force Aberdeen turn up the heat on Hibs and the rest of their Premiership rivals.

The big defender marked his first European start with an early contender for goal of the season away in the 2-2 draw to HJK. The experienced Englishman now feels up to speed and wants to get the Dons climbing back up the Premiership, starting with tomorrow’s trip to Easter Road. MacDonald admitted: “We’ve had a lot of games and travelling but it’s all focus back to the league to try to finish in the top three again.

“Travel, the teams you’re coming up against are quality, they’re great players. It does take a lot out of you, but that’s all excuses. We’re professional footballers, that’s what we do. Play week in week out, two games a week. So there are no excuses now, we’ve got to kick on in the league and get results. Hibs is another game away from home. So we’ll look to recover, probably freshen it up and look to get three points.

“It’s a mentality and a belief within the dressing room, we’ve got that. No doubt. You’re saying the home games are winnable games but they can also be banana skins.

"We’ve seen that this season. It’ll be weird to have so many games at home after we’ve been so used to travelling. Hopefully we can get some wins in front of our own fans and kick on up the league now.”

MacDonald was a key player for the Dons as they clinched third place last season but an injury at the start of last season has seen him drop behind Slobodan Rubezic, Stefan Gartenmann and Richard Jensen. The 31-year-old has had to bide his time.

He explained: “Me personally, it has been a frustrating season, after a strong finish last year. I picked up a knee injury on the first