Aberdeen boss Jim Goodwin believes the Dons can still salvage their season by grabbing a top-six spot following their vital 3-1 win over Hibernian.
Lewis Ferguson’s penalty double and Vicente Besuijen’s late strike saw the Reds narrow the gap on Shaun Maloney’s team to two points.
Goodwin’s men are also just two points away from climbing into the top half of the table with fixtures against Dundee and Ross County to come before the split.
Goodwin said: “Our aim is to win two games. I don’t want to think about four points being enough. We just go on to the next game now.
“As I said to the players before this game, we cannot affect what has happened previously but we can have a real impact on how the season pans out.
“We can go some way to making amends and give the supporters that bit of pride back in their team. If we go and win the next two, it will put on us on 41 points which might just be enough.”
Seven teams are separated by just four points in what is shaping up to be a frantic finish before the league split but the lack of consistency has frustrated Goodwin.
He said: “It shows you that the top three teams in the league have been the best in the country, there is no getting away from that. There has been a real lack of consistency from every other team in the league.
“People talk about it being a competitive league and yeah it probably is, but a team of our size with the squad we have available, we should not be in this position although we can put it right and restore some pride.”
Hibs manager Maloney is confident his team will bounce back against Dundee Utd in their next match in a fortnight.
The high of knocking out Motherwell to reach the Scottish Cup semi-finals last weekend was followed by the low of a 3-1 defeat at Pittodrie.
But Maloney credited his players for showing character after Ryan Porteous’ game-changing dismissal, which led to Aberdeen’s second penalty.
Maloney said: “We play Dundee United next so that is a huge game. I have to say the away fans, even when it was 3-1, were amazing so we are going to need them at home.
“I really appreciate them travelling and the players gave me everything in the last half hour after the sending off.
“I saw something there that I really liked in the hardest moment so we really need a big performance against Dundee United in the next match but it is something we are more than capable of.”
“We showed that last week against Motherwell and we need to show it again against Dundee United.”
