Aberdeen

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Marius Muller says he would happily repeat his recent rabona against Dundee.

Muller, 33, performed the trick in the Dons' recent Scottish League Cup win.

"You have to be a little bit crazy in the right moments, in the right times as a goalkeeper," Muller, 33.

"In this moment, it makes sense. If it makes sense, I will do it again, sure."

Joining from Wolfsburg this summer, Muller is now playing regularly after limited appearances in the previous two seasons.

"For me, it's very good to have game time again after two years playing not so much," he said.

"In the end, nobody will tell you, 'you're number one, you're number two'.

"Nobody said, 'you are the clear number one no matter what happens'. In football, you get no guarantees to play and I don't want a guarantee to play.

"You have to push every day. You have to earn it to play on the weekend."

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Aberdeen manager Stephen Robinson is not close to bringing in any new signings but says the imminent closure of the English transfer window could create opportunities.

Transfers depend on whether money is available and if targets can improve the squad without blocking "younger players' pathway". The Scottish window closes on Thursday.

And Robinson said: "We've brought in a lot of players. Ten free transfers. Three signings we've paid a little bit of money for. There's been a lot of change.

"If there's a chance to improve the squad, then definitely we're still looking.

"I'm not close to anyone coming in at the moment. I don't know if that it'll be it. The English window closes tonight, so things can change, opportunities arise that perhaps we didn't see coming and we'll keep an open mind if there's money available."

Robinson also says fringe players who are yet to feature for him could have a future at Pittodrie if they do not leave the club this week.

"Yes, of course, if they're good enough, if they train well enough," he explained.

"They're not involved for a reason. I have the luxury of seeing them every day and if they're not involved then I don't deem them to be good enough to be in the squad and I've never known a manager not put a player in a squad that would make sure you win a game or keep you in a job.

"I've been honest with all the players who I believe won't be a part of what we're doing going forward.

"When the window closes, everyone has that chance. They have a chance every day in training. If they step up and show us what talent they have, then of course they'll be involved."

Phil McDonald
BBC Scotland

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Aberdeen manager Stephen Robinson and goalkeeper Marius Muller has been speaking to the media before Wednesday's Scottish Premiership trip to Celtic Park. Here are the key points.

• Robinson is not close to bringing in any new signings but says the imminent closure of the English transfer window could create opportunities. Transfers depend on whether money is available and if targets can improve the squad without blocking "younger players' pathway".

• The Aberdeen manager says fringe players who are yet to feature for him could have a future at Pittodrie if they do not leave the club - but, they have to be "good enough" and "train well enough", adding: "They're not involved for a reason."

• Robinson regards Wednesday's match in Glasgow as a "tough challenge". "They've consistently been the best team in the league for a long, long time now and that hasn't changed," said the Dons boss.

• Muller discussed his recent rabona against Dundee, saying: "You have to be a little bit crazy in the right moments." The keeper adds he would do it again if it made sense.

• The goalkeeper was given no assurances he would be first choice when he joined Aberdeen.

• Muller describes Scottish football as "a little bit wild" and "much nicer to watch than German football" and says the style of play is "very fast" with more fluency, as referees "don't whistle every single touch, every single tackle".

Glen Schreuder
Fan writer

Maybe the weekend off didn't help Aberdeen, maybe a few decisions will be looked back on, but we need to stop finding excuses and look at other problems that Sunday's defeat to Rangers has brought about.

There is still a real lack of identity about this Aberdeen team and with 13 new arrivals it is little wonder.

Walking away from Pittodrie at full-time I couldn't help but feel disappointed at two things. One, taking nothing from the game, and two, not applying ourselves more against a Rangers side who came here in a bit of a mess.

Consistency is going to be key for Aberdeen to have a successful season and Stephen Robinson needs to find it quickly.

Unfortunately some of our upcoming fixtures aren't too kind. With the transfer window closing on Thursday it seems departures are more likely than incomings.

I'd still like us to see at least another winger and a quality centre-midfielder that isn't going to cost £500k from St Mirren before the window slams shut or it could be a long few months.

Glen Schreuder can be found at Red Tinted Glasses, external

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Chris Cadden says Aberdeen have to regroup and come back stronger after Sunday's narrow Scottish Premiership defeat by Rangers.

Lawrence Shankland's late penalty was the only goal of the game at Pittodrie, leaving Stephen Robinson's side with three points from their opening three league games.

Aberdeen go to champions Celtic on Wednesday before hosting Kilmarnock on Saturday, and Cadden hopes they will go into those matches with a positive mindset.

"There are a lot of positives to take but as a football club, as players and as the manager, we don't accept not winning games of football," Cadden said.

"We know we have to do better, go away and look at the things we can do better.

"We're not happy, of course we're not because that's the mentality we have as players.

"But we take the positives, look at what we can improve on and go on to Wednesday. There's no point feeling sorry for ourselves.

"It's a big week for us, it can still be a good week so we have to dust ourselves down and go again.

"It's never going to be plain sailing throughout a whole season, we know that and are not naive enough to think that.

"So it's about bouncing back and that's what the full focus will be on Wednesday."

We asked for your views after Aberdeen were edged out by Rangers in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday.

Here's what some of you had to say:

Frank: All change but everything stays the same. Lack of creative nous in the midfield. Too slow in the build-up. Do they practise shooting at training? Long season ahead if this approach continues.

Neil: Poor. Stephen Robinson talks a good game about fight and grit. I hope we see that emerging in the coming weeks.

Jimi: A relatively good performance let down by Dan Happe's catastrophic decision-making. Oh, and that officiating. I agree with Robinson's implication. Rangers should have been down to nine men.

Mark: I just don't think Robinson is the man for the job. Our decision-making in the final third is woeful and our defence is suspect at best. Another long season of mid-table mediocrity is coming. I doubt we'll make the top six and I think we'll be looking for yet another manager in about 18 months. I sincerely hope I'm wrong.

Bill: It was a terrible game, not helped by a useless ref, but Rangers were there for the taking and we can't just blame the ref as we were pretty terrible.

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Aberdeen striker Kusini Yengi has joined Sanfrecce Hiroshima on loan, with the Japanese club holding an option to make the move permanent.

The Australia international joined the Dons from Portsmouth a year ago but has since scored just once in 10 games.

The 27-year-old forward spent part of last term on loan with Cerezo Osaka and will now return to Japan for this campaign.

"This is a good opportunity for Kusini," Aberdeen boss Stephen Robinson said.

"Competition for places in forward areas is strong, and together we felt that a loan move to Sanfrecce Hiroshima, where he can play regularly, is the right step.

"They also have an option to make the transfer permanent, which provides clarity for everyone moving forward."

Rangers get the better of Aberdeen for a first Scottish Premiership win of the season (UK only).

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Aberdeen boss Stephen Robinson: "I'm disappointed about the result of course. I didn't think there was a lot in the game. The key moments went against us and probably cost us the game - they cost us a point at least.

"If I give my thoughts [on the decisions] I'll get a five or six-match ban. The authorities have made sure of that - you're not allowed to give an opinion. You can feel sorry for yourselves or you can control what you can.

"[The players] showed better quality in the second half. The expectation was on Aberdeen to take the game to Rangers and I didn't think we did that well enough.

"The performance at times was good, certainly a battling performance with a lot of quality. They responded to going a goal down. They are the things I can take positives from."

Lawrence Shankland's second-half penalty prevented pressure intensifying on manager Derek McInnes as Rangers edged out Aberdeen to earn their first Scottish Premiership victory of the season.

Read our match report

Have your say

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Aberdeen are still without Brad Lyons, Ante Palaversa, Emmanuel Gyamfi (thigh) and Kristers Tobers (knee) but Mats Knoester is back in contention after being sidelined since May.

Rangers have Cammy Devlin back from a European ban and South Korean winger Kim Min-su could feature after his move from Girona.

Nico Raskin missed the defeat by Jablonec amid transfer talk.

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Aberdeen head coach Stephen Robinson says his side will need to be at the top of their game to beat Rangers at Pittodrie on Sunday, despite the visitors' difficult start to the season.

Derek McInnes and his team are already under pressure amid a poor run of performances that continued in the Czech Republic on Thursday night, when they were knocked out of the Conference League by Jablonec.

"We have to focus on ourselves first and foremost and what we bring to the game," Robinson said

"We have to bring the best version of ourselves. Every time you play Rangers, it is a difficult game.

"It doesn't matter what stage of the season it is and where they are in terms of results, you play Rangers, you have to be on top of your game to win the game."

Aberdeen have enjoyed a solid start to the season, losing just one of their seven games, and should be pretty fresh after last weekend's encounter with Motherwell was postponed because of the Steelmen's European commitments.

"I am not sure it is an advantage," Robinson insisted. "Players want to keep playing football and momentum all the time.

"We had a game last week, a practice game as well, so we have tried to keep the momentum going.

"We come into it positive after a really good week's training and I don't think it is a disadvantage to Rangers playing, no."

• Rangers manager Derek McInnes has lost five of his past six away league games against former side Aberdeen, including the latest three in a row since a 1-0 win with Kilmarnock in December 2023.

• Rangers could fail to win their opening three games of a league season for the second successive campaign (drawing three in 2025-26). Before this, they had not failed to win any of their opening three matches in 35 seasons from 1990-91 to 2024-25.

• Aberdeen have won four of their past five home league games (losing the other), including their first this season, 2-1 over Hearts. It is as many wins as their previous 16 at Pittodrie in the Scottish Premiership (W4 D5 L7).

• Rangers have won the past four league games against Aberdeen, but have not won five in a row over the Dons since October 2011 (when they won six).

• Aberdeen have only lost one of their past five home league games against Rangers (winning two of them), although that was their most recent, a 2-0 defeat in January last season.

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Toyosi Olusanya isn't fretting about rough treatment from opposition defenders. The Aberdeen striker is more concerned with adding to his goal tally.

Speaking before Sunday's Premiership visit of Rangers, Dons head coach Stephen Robinson said the 28-year-old gets "kicked from pillar to post" during matches.

In response, Olusanya said: "It is a tough game. I think the type of player I am, players maybe look at me, look at my style, and look to impose some sort of presence on myself through the game.

"But hopefully the referees make the right decision and it is just about focusing on ourselves and my game and just get up and dust yourself off.

"If you let it get to you on the pitch then that is when it becomes a problem. You just get up and brush it away, that is the best way to move forward with things."

After spending the second half of last season on loan from Houston Dynamo, Olusanya made the move to Aberdeen permanent earlier this summer.

While happy with his contribution to the team, the Englishman - who has scored once this term - would like to add a few more goals to his game.

He said: "I think it has been a decent start, I have managed to get off the mark in the cup game, I got an assist in the last cup game also.

"A few goal contributions, but I look at myself as a striker. I am always happy when I am hitting the back of the net so I will continue to work on that and hopefully improve on that in front of goal."

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Australia striker Kusini Yengi is set to be among the players leaving Aberdeen in the coming days, head coach Stephen Robinson has confirmed.

The Dons have made 13 signings this summer, leaving a bloated squad that Robinson is striving to trim.

On the prospect of departures, he said: "There are some close, yeah.

"Lutz [Pfannenstiel, sporting director] and the recruitment boys are working away in the background on that, I think they have done a terrific job so far.

"And we are hoping that a couple of things will go through in the next two or three days."

Yengi, who had a spell on loan at Cerezo Osaka in the second half of last season, is reportedly heading back to the J-League, external for a season-long stint at Sanfrecce Hiroshima.

Asked if Yengi is among those set to exit, Robinson said: "Yeah, he is."

The Dons boss said there are "no updates" regarding the prospect of further signings, but is pleased to have Mats Knoester available again.

The Dutch defender hasn't featured since he injured his knee at Dundee in the final game of last term.

It remains to be seen whether Knoester will be in the squad for Sunday's Premiership visit of Rangers.

"I am delighted," said Robinson. "Since I came in he has had a few injury problems, he had some before I came and then got himself back fit again and unfortunately picked up that injury against Dundee so we have not seen the best of Mats yet.

"He is getting back to full fitness, had 45 minutes in the KDM Cup as well so he is on the road to recovery and is certainly a very good option for us again. He has trained now consistently for two to three weeks."

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Aberdeen head coach Stephen Robinson has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premiership visit of Rangers.

Here are the key lines:

• Robinson says it is a blow midfielder Brad Lyons will miss three to four weeks after minor knee surgery on his knee, but it "could have been a lot worse".

• After a long injury lay-off, Mats Knoester is available for Sunday's game, with Robinson saying the defender is "a very good option for us again".

• A decision on whether Knoester is fit enough to be on the bench will be made in the next 48 hours.

• Robinson confirmed striker Kusini Yengi, linked with a move to Japan, is among the players close to leaving the club. He adds on departures: "We are hoping a couple of things will go through in the next two or three days."

• On potential new signings: "There are no updates at this moment in time."

• Robinson doesn't think Rangers' European commitments are a disadvantage to the Ibrox club going into the game at Pittodrie.

• When asked if there is a vulnerability about Rangers, he says "we have to focus on ourselves first and foremost" but adds "every time you play Rangers it is a difficult game" and the Dons will have to be at their best.

• Robinson praises striker Toyosi Olusanya, saying: "He is an absolute handful to play against, gets kicked from pillar to post... he maybe doesn't get the protection because he is a strong boy and he tries to stay on his feet."

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Aberdeen vice-captain Brad Lyons has been ruled out for three to four weeks after minor surgery on a knee injury.

The club say his rehabilitation is already under way and he is expected to return to action before the international break.

The Northern Ireland midfielder, who moved to Pittodrie from Kilmarnock this summer, started Aberdeen's first five games of the season but missed the past two through injury.

Aberdeen striker Kusini Yengi is set to return to Japan on loan after last season's stint at Cerezo Osaka. (Press and Journal, external)

Read the rest of Thursday's Scottish gossip.

Liam McLeod
BBC Sport Scotland Commentator

"We endorse that position because moving to a massive club like Rangers is a big step with concomitant risk."

A famous line from a Rangers statement in December 2017 which was in response to Derek McInnes' decision to remain as Aberdeen manager after weeks of fevered speculation he would make the switch to Ibrox.

The statement went on: "We will only appoint someone in whom we have full confidence and who feels he is ready for the job."

Then Dons chairman Stewart Milne was the happiest man in the country as his opposite number in Govan, Dave King, tried to fend off the flak that came with the snub with a thinly-veiled, withering jibe.

Close to a decade on, McInnes will this weekend take Rangers to Pittodrie for Sunday's high noon shootout in the Granite City.

Many Dons fans were left scarred by the episode given their manager had been given time off to weigh up the move as the players got ready for a big league game at Dundee without him.

The back pages were dominated by the story for weeks and it came to a head as the two clubs clashed in back-to-back matches in the space of a few days.

Rangers won both games.

Since McInnes left, the Dons' record in league games against Rangers has been poor with just three wins in 19 attempts, as Stephen Robinson tries to get the better of McInnes having done so a couple of times last season when the pair were at St Mirren and Hearts respectively.

Pittodrie won't be the place for those looking for a relaxing Sunday afternoon, with the former Dons boss unlikely to be given a warm welcome, but for the visitor it is a return to where that concomitant risk all began.

We asked for your views on what Aberdeen need in the final week of the transfer window.

Here are some of your comments:

Neil: Get a few more out the door then work with what we have. Turnover has been enormous. Many fans want to see young players given a chance. No loan signings has to be seen as positive. Squad should be good enough.

Scott: We need some grit in midfield, perhaps two players, as we're weak there. We need a winger who actually has pace, can beat a man, and can cross a ball (as Tony Yogane and Lewis Smith are hopeless). We need a strong back-up keeper.

Mark: I don't want us to sign someone just for the sake of it, they have to be the right player and be genuine competition to the players currently starting. It's clear we need legs in the middle of the park and I guess it all depends on whether Stephen Robinson thinks Kusini Yengi can be an option up front once fit. If not I would like us to add a fourth striker and see us playing more regularly with two up.

Justin: A player who can create chances and score goals from midfield would be great. But whatever the position they must play for the badge.

Peter S: I think there are a few players who are just there for wages and making very little impact. If we can get four or five of them shipped on then I'd like to get another one or two in with a view to possibly recalling one or both of the lads at ICT come second half of the season. We still need that midfielder that's going to pick out the players and dominate that midfield area.

Mark: I hope we sign Killian Phillips from St Mirren and another winger, maybe Danny Armstrong? Hope we get offers for Tobers, Gyamfi, Palaversa, Bilalovic and Yengi. That would reduce the squad size further.