The Dons keeper has been up and down this season but has been back to his best in recent weeks.
Stephen Robinson has praised Dimitar Mitov for his bravery and his part in helping get Aberdeen to the verge of Premiership safety. The big keeper, who was a Scottish Cup final hero last season, has kept consecutive clean sheets against Hibs and Kilmarnock and will be hoping to continue that run against Livingston on Friday night.
Robinson reckons the last two wins will have silenced some of Aberdeen's critics. The Bulgarian international has come in for criticism this season, but Robinson believes that is down to the fact he tries to take the pressure off his defenders. When it comes to the Premiership, he is the No. 1 who comes for the most crosses. Robinson said: “Dimi's somebody I've admired from afar.
“You know, statistically in the league, he comes for the most crosses and when you do that, sometimes you make the error and people always pick up the negatives. “But, you know, he's a real positive for me in his bravery. He was really assured on Saturday.
“You're playing the bottom six teams that they rely a lot on set plays. “We will have the same again on Friday night. It is a huge side that we're going to play against and you need a goalkeeper that's going to come and be very dominant.
“He has been. He's been excellent around the place for me. ” Robinson did leave Mitov out for the St Mirren game after he had been away with Bulgaria but apart from that he has had the gloves.
“I put Per in against St Mirren,” the Aberdeen boss explained. “Unfortunately, he’d come into a side that was without confidence and we weren't able to play particularly well in the first half. “I just felt with Dimi being away for the two weeks, you know, it was Per's opportunity. “I've obviously went back to Dimi now that he's back in the building after his international duty.
“He’s got experience at this level, which I believe was important to get us out of trouble. ” The Dons are looking for a result at Livingston that would finally kill off any lingering fears of the relegation play-off. Nicky Devlin was the hero on Aberdeen's last visit, but he isn't expected to be in the travelling squad, as he returns from injury. It looks like Livi will be going down automatically.
The Lions did bare their teeth in their weekend win over St Mirren. Robinson knows Marvin Bartley will have his team fired up to fend off the potential drop for another week.
“I think they've been playing with freedom of late,” Robinson insisted. “You know, they've got nothing to lose. “I think Marvin's done a really good job since he came in. “They're a big, strong physical side and they've found a way to play.
“Again, they've been consistent over the last lot of weeks. “They had a fantastic result at St Mirren at the weekend, so they've been boosted by that. “Any team that Davie and Marvin are involved with, are going to be never say die. ‘They've got an incredible attitude and they've also got some very good players.
“Lewis Smith, Joel Nouble, Stevie May and Scott Arfield as well. “They've got really good players within their ranks that can be a real threat to you as well. “So we go there with no preconceived ideas. “We have to scrap the fight and battle the same way we did on Saturday.
“It wasn't pretty, as I alluded to after the game. It certainly wasn't the level we want on the ball.
“But off the ball, sometimes you have to win ugly and we managed to do that and we may need to do the same again. ” Get more Daily Record exclusives by signing up for free to Google’s preferred sources . Click HERE .
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Aberdeen FC Livingston FC Scottish Premiership Stephen Robinson David Martindale Hibernian FC Kilmarnock FC Scott Arfield Stevie May St Mirren FC
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