Aberdeen

Aberdeen interim manager Peter Leven: "Delighted with the win and the clean sheet. We were slow in the build up and weren't punching through the lines quick enough.

"We never had enough in the final third and I said to them at half-time we needed to up the tempo and the passing needs to be crisper between the lines.

"We saw that in the second half."

On the red card, Leven said: "I haven't seen it. I'm delighted with another set-play [goal]. I thought this season we've been good at attacking them and defending them.

"We're a good team. But they just need to be patient. We were still trying to force things with the extra man and we didn't need to.

"But it's a tough game after 120 minutes last week. A few of them are still tired. "But overall I'm delighted with them.

"[Junior Hoilett] has quality. His set-play delivery, he also should have scored. But his ball retention, the way he moves the ball and his through balls are very good. He's a top player and I would love to have him around."

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Thomas Duncan, BBC Sport Scotland

The first 55 minutes of this game passed almost without incident, before Jack Vale's boot connected with Jack Mackenzie's midriff as the pair challenged for the ball in the air.

After that sending off, Aberdeen took firm control and got their reward swiftly through Stefan Gartenmann's guided headed to bolster their confidence.

Junior Hoilett in particular, after his two wonderful assists against Celtic last week, was terrific to watch. Not only did he lay on seven chances for his team-mates, but he hassled Motherwell out of possession as well.

Aberdeen's interim manager Peter Leven has brought calm amid a chaotic season, managing to plug a leaky defence as the home side registered a third clean sheet in a row in the league while extending their unbeaten run to five.

They were wasteful in the last half hour but ultimately got the job done, and with it another season in the Premiership is probably assured.

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Aberdeen striker Bojan Miovski, recently linked with Dutch champions Feyenoord, is worth "at least £10m plus add-ons", says former Pittodrie hero Joe Harper. (Press & Journal, external, subscription required)

Read the rest of Saturday's Scottish gossip.

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Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie is suspended.

Motherwell remain without Adam Devine, Adam Montgomery, Jon Obika, Harry Paton and Callum Slattery.

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Dante Polvara says he has rebuilt his confidence at Aberdeen this season.

The American midfielder, 23, joined the Dons back in January 2022 but struggled to make an impact amid managerial upheaval - and spent time on loan in his homeland with Charleston Battery - before cementing himself as a key member of the Dons team this season, making 36 appearances.

"I've grown a lot since I've been here," he said ahead of Saturday's match at home to Motherwell.

"This is my first professional club. Although I was 21 when I arrived, I was still a baby when it comes to the professional scene and there's a lot you need to learn.

"Scottish football is very different to US soccer and that takes a while to get used to and then on top of that you have to get used to the pressure and the fans, which is something else I wasn't used to.

"I always had my team-mates in my corner but you need everything to click. You need the manager on your side and that's not always easy. Especially for me after Stephen [Glass] was sacked a few weeks into me being here.

"My loan was to prove to the club that I could contribute but mainly to prove to myself because mentally I'd be lying if I said I wasn't struggling at the time. I was struggling for confidence.

"I remember how nervous I was before I came on for my first game at Charleston. I was way more nervous then than I was walking out at Hampden against Celtic last weekend. That says a lot about how far I've come.

"It's been a journey of highs and lows but I've got to see every side of football so far."

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Aberdeen caretaker manager Peter Leven says he is "happy" at Pittodrie, despite being linked with the vacant managerial post at Barnsley, external.

Barnsley - who sit fifth in League One - parted company with Neil Collins this week with just one game of the regular season remaining, but Leven expects to be at Aberdeen come the start of next term as part of incoming boss Jimmy Thelin's coaching team.

"I think that is just speculation," he said when asked about the vacancy at Oakwell.

"I am committed here, I have loved it here and I am happy to be part of it for next season.

"I’m doing okay, there is obviously room for improvement and I will always work on that but it is a great club and hopefully the next five games can go well."

Leven has also challenged his players to take the positives from last weekend's Scottish Cup heartache against Celtic, and finish the season on a high.

"We have got to build on the momentum," he said. "We are on a decent run. Obviously try to take the positives from Saturday, scoring three goals against Celtic.

"We want to finish as high as possible, and that is seventh, so I have set a challenge down for them."

We asked you which of Aberdeen's out-of-contract players you'd be keen to keep at Pittodrie.

Here's what some of you said:

Euan: Keep Connor Barron, Junior Hoilett and Jonny Hayes (to be more of a coach/player role) and get rid of the rest, especially Kelle Roos. Absolutely need a new keeper and that should be the priority for the new manager coming in.

Barry: Barron obviously doesn't want to stay unfortunately, but out of all the out-of-contract players, he's the only one that deserves to be given a contract. The rest should go.

Stuart: I would let Roos go and Hoilett was just a Neil Warnock favourite. Also, if Hayes wants to go to his beloved Celtic then off you go. Barron could leave for a fee but if he does hopefully it will be to a club in England.

Chewie: Keep Roos, Barron, Anthony Stewart, and Hayes on coaching staff.

Anon: I just hope we get a good bunch of players next season, not a full rebuild like this season. We should re-sign Hoilett, Barron, Roos and Kieran Ngwenya.

Fred: The only one I would keep is Hoilett. The others are either not the quality we need or are not interested in staying. High quality new recruits are needed after this awful season.

Matthew: Roos should be let go ASAP after throwing Ryan Duncan under the bus with his cramp in the semi-final. When has a keeper ever had cramp?

Anon: Hoillet I think can bring something to the squad - keep him for one more season. As long as Jimmy Thelin has targets to replace them, I think the rest will be gone.

Eoin: Barron and Roos should be kept. Hayes has been a great servant but his time is past. Couldn't care less about the other out-of-contract players.

Niall: First out the door should be Stewart. Just not good enough and turned out a real liability on numerous occasions. Hayes and Graeme Shinnie's days are over as players and unlikely to be offered anything else at AFC. With good man-management Duk, Bojan Miovski, Barron, Nicky Devlin and Stefan Gartenmann can form a strong nucleus going forward with some new faces.

Calum: I’d like us to keep Roos and Barron if possible. I’d also consider giving Hoilett a year after his brilliant cameos in the cup run.

Paul: The Dons require to keep Angus MacDonald and sign Gartenmann up for the central defensive partnership. I'd keep Roos too. Hayes, Hoilett and Barron should be released, with Vicente Besuijen recalled and given his chance. Pape Gueye should be sold and the money used for Miovski's inevitable departure.

Les: All the out-of-contract players should be allowed to leave. Some have contributed but are no longer able, some are simply not good enough and Barron doesn't want to be here.

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Aberdeen caretaker manager Peter Leven has been speaking to the media before this weekend's Premiership visit of Motherwell.

Here are the key points:

• The Dons have five "huge" games coming up and there is still "plenty of work to do".

• Leven says "I think we are on a decent run", adding they want to finish as high in the table as possible and that is seventh.

• While they were disappointed with their penalty shootout defeat to Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi final last week, Leven insists there are plenty of positives they can take from it.

• Motherwell will be tough opposition but while they have been on good form "so have we".

• On reports linking him with the manager’s job at Barnsley, Leven says it is "just speculation" and he is committed to Aberdeen.

• Team news - no fresh injuries, Graeme Shinnie is suspended.

Dutch champions Feyenoord have joined the race to sign Aberdeen striker Bojan Miovski, with the Macedonia 24-year-old also being linked with Celtic and Premier League clubs, according to media in the Netherlands. (Gol, external - in Macedonian)

Read the rest of Friday's Scottish gossip.

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With several players out of contract in the summer, clubs up and down the country are considering who they want to be involved next season.

Aberdeen have half a dozen names with deals coming up - Kelle Roos, Junior Hoilett, Connor Barron, Jonny Hayes, Anthony Stewart and Kieran Ngwenya.

Who would you like to be a Pittodrie next term, and who would you happily wave goodbye to? Have your say here.

• Aberdeen have won four of their last five league meetings with Motherwell (D1), this after winning just one of their previous eight beforehand (D2 L5).

• Motherwell have lost twice to Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership this season, last losing three times to them in a single campaign in the division in 2016-17.

• Aberdeen have drawn five of their last seven home league games (W1 L1), including a 0-0 draw with Dundee in their last such match.

• Motherwell have won their last three away league games, their longest such run on the road since January 2020, when they won four in a row – and the fourth such win was at Aberdeen.

• Only Dimitar Mitov (118) has made more saves than Aberdeen’s Kelle Roos (107) in the Scottish Premiership this season. Roos has conceded 49 goals (excluding own goals) despite facing 58.3 expected goals on target, with his 9.3 xGoT prevented also second among goalkeepers in the division, behind Mitov (11.2).

Aberdeen goalkeeper Kelle Roos, the 31-year-old who is out of contract at the end of the season, says he has been waiting for the appointment of a new manager before making a decision on his Pittodrie future and could wait until he can have talks with Jimmy Thelin on his arrival this summer. (Press & Journal), external

Read the rest of Thursday's Scottish gossip.

After Saturday's dramatic Scottish Cup semi-final, Aberdeen welcome Motherwell to Pittodrie in the first round of post-split fixtures.

But who should get the nod from Peter Leven to start at the weekend?

Put yourself in Leven's shoes and pick your XI here.

The Aberdeen players have rightly received praise for their performance in Saturday’s thrilling Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic at Hampden.

In many ways, it was everything they haven’t been for large swathes of their league season. In some others, it was everything they have been.

All three of Celtic’s goals were avoidable and cheap concessions has been a theme throughout what has been a dreadful Premiership campaign. Angus MacDonald did all he could to redeem himself after selling the holders’ equaliser before his costly decision to jump out of the way of James Forrest’s shot which ended up in the net.

Matt O’Riley’s extra-time strike was brilliantly taken by the Celtic man but Aberdeen sub, and ultimate shoot-out fall-guy, Killian Phillips lost him at the crucial moment.

The nature of those goals will have left a sour taste for interim manager Peter Leven because this was a match that was there for the taking and they came up short as Kelle Roos failed to save any of the Glasgow side's penalties.

The Dons fans appreciated the effort and energy on display from their team and the last-gasp goals from Ester Sokler and MacDonald will live with them for a while; they were both ultimately for nothing as they headed back up the road bitterly disappointed.

You had to feel for Pittodrie academy graduate Ryan Duncan. With ball in hand and having watched all six players before him convert their spot kicks, the 20-year-old was left to stew on it for a couple of minutes as his goalkeeper lay down with cramp in the goal-mouth after failing to get to O’Riley’s effort.

Who knows how much difference it would have made had Roos made his way off the playing surface for treatment. Instead, Duncan was alone with his thoughts and the pressure when the heat was on. He hit the post.

The result confirmed that for the second season out of three, there will be no European football at Pittodrie next term, with a second appearance in the League Cup groups awaiting them.

This season, there is work still to be done to finally put to bed any thoughts of a relegation scrap.

The Dons players set a standard against Celtic at Hampden in the spring sunshine, and the fans would be pretty unforgiving if the levels drop back to what they’ve seen too often this season when they welcome Motherwell to the Granite City at the weekend.

Aberdeen interim boss Peter Leven is among the candidates Barnsley are looking at to become their new head coach. (Record), external

Dante Polvara says he and his Aberdeen team-mates need to prove themselves to incoming manager Jimmy Thelin. (Press and Journal - subscription), external

Heartbreaking.

No other word can sum up the feeling when Killian Phillips' penalty failed to find the back of the net on Saturday afternoon, consigning Aberdeen to another Hampden defeat to Celtic in a game that had it all.

Generally speaking, I’m not one who subscribes to the belief penalties are a lottery. But on this occasion, they kind of were.

With the likes of Miovski, Duk, Clarkson, Polvara & Barron all off the park, Aberdeen’s options for penalty takers were curtailed severely and credit has to go to the likes of Angus MacDonald, Jack Milne and Ryan Duncan for stepping forward to take a penalty when the pressure was well and truly on.

Duncan was especially unlucky with his penalty and he wasn’t helped by the injury to Kelle Roos that forced the Dons youngster to stand, agonisingly, waiting to take his kick. It’s difficult to fathom why Roos didn’t get himself clear of the penalty area before going down, rather than having to put his young team-mate into that situation.

Phillips’ penalty was probably the poorest of anyone’s during the shootout, but the Dons take the plaudits for contributing to a Scottish Cup semi-final that will go down in folklore and the Aberdeen support can, rightly, take pride in their team’s performance.

That said, for all of the plaudits Aberdeen’s performance has elicited, it’s Celtic who will return to Hampden in May to contest the final and the responsibility will now fall on Jimmy Thelin to take the positives from Saturday’s showing and develop a winning mentality at the club.

Before Thelin arrives, the onus sits on Peter Leven to finish off the season with some positivity - a win on Saturday over Motherwell should put niggling fears of being dragged into the relegation play-off battle to rest and allow the entire club to try and forget the campaign and put all focus on to next season.

Gary Scott can be found on the ABZ Football Podcast, external.

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Despite the heartbreak at Hampden, it appears Bojan Miovski still managed to conjure up a smile this weekend.

The 24-year-old took to X, external to share his pride at being named by his fellow professionals in the PFA Scotland team of the year.

He follows in team-mate Duk's footsteps after his inclusion last term.

The North Macedonia striker - who scored his 24th goal of the season for Aberdeen at Hampden - said he "can't express how much this means".

"I strongly believe if you work hard, whatever you want, it will come to you," he added.

"It's a pleasure to be chosen."

Miovski was joined in the front three by Hearts' Lawrence Shankland and Theo Bair of Motherwell. The trio boast an impressive 65 goals between them in all competitions this campaign.

Aberdeen proved their quality to incoming boss Jimmy Thelin in their Hampden loss, says interim manager Peter Leven. (Press and Journal - subscription), external

Read Tuesday's Scottish Gossip

Celtic centre-back Liam Scales "really struggled" with Aberdeen's physicality in Saturday's Scottish Cup semi-final, says former Pittodrie defender Richard Foster.

Foster also feels Scales was at fault for Aberdeen's second and third goals at Hampden.

Click here to listen to more on the Scottish Football Podcast.

Aberdeen defender Stefan Gartemann believes his side has restored pride in the shirt following the monumental effort in the Scottish Cup semi-final penalty shoot-out loss to Celtic. (Press & Journal)

Thiago Motta, one of the rising stars among managers in Europe, says injured ex-Aberdeen midfielder Lewis Ferguson "cannot be replaced" and has backed him to return better than ever. (Scottish Sun)

Read the rest of Monday's gossip.