Jim Goodwin urges Aberdeen to follow Hearts blueprint as he uses Tynecastle turnaround for inspiration

Jim Goodwin knows he has an almighty job to turnaround Aberdeen 's fortunes.

The Dons finished in the bottom six for the first time in almost a decade and Goodwin has struggled to get a tune out of the squad left by Stephen Glass.

But the 40-year-old believes you just have to look at what Robbie Neilson has done with Hearts to realise that there's no reason why the north east club can't be back challenging for trophies.

Hearts were in the Championship this time last year and disgruntled fans even demonstrated outside Tynecastle for Neilson's departure following a Scottish Cup loss to Brora Rangers.

Now the Gorgie club have secured a third place Premiership finish and face Rangers in the Scottish Cup final on Saturday.

And Goodwin insists that just what can be done within a year.

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"I understand the supporters’ frustration but there are examples of teams who have been in similar scenario to ourselves," said Goodwin.

“You only have to look at what happened at Hearts.

“Hearts are a similar sized club to ourselves.

“They were knocked out of the cup by Brora Rangers and there were demonstrations outside Tynecastle.

“Only 12 months or so on from that they are the third best team in the country and have a