Motherwell boss Mark McGhee not taking Aberdeen lightly despite dip in form

Motherwell manager Mark McGhee is expecting to see the best of Aberdeen at Fir Park on Friday night.

The Dons have faded in recent weeks after losing the Betfred Cup final to Celtic last month, winning only one of their four league matches since to drop seven points behind second-placed Rangers - albeit they have a game in hand over the Ibrox side.

The Scotland assistant boss, however, insists every game in the Ladbrokes Premiership offers a clean slate.

"I have said this about us all and I include the top teams - whatever happens in one game has practically no relevance to the next game," he said.

"We all can win a game after losing and lose a game after winning, so it is no different for them.

"We have to assume that they will be at their best.

"They have a great pitch to come and play for and they will think they can come here and get back their form, but we have to make sure that they don't."

The teams met at Pittodrie on December 13 only for the match to be abandoned after floodlight failure.

McGhee, however, saw enough in the few minutes of game-time to give him encouragement.

He said: "Even though it was only 10 minutes, we got a flavour of it up there and I felt competitive so I think we can give them a game.

"They are one of the top four teams and will finish in the top four.

"It will be a difficult game but we are at home - generally we do quite well when we are at home - so we can be positive."

McGhee revealed striker Dylan Mackin will be on the bench after his two goals in Motherwell under-20s' remarkable 9-1 win over their Aberdeen counterparts in Montrose on Tuesday night.

The 19-year-old came on to make his debut in the dying embers of a 3-1 defeat at Dundee in the Premiership a year ago and featured as a late substitute in the Betfred Cup ties against Annan and Stranraer earlier in the season.

The former Aberdeen boss, who put up a staunch defence of Well's academy recently after reports that the Fir Park club could be excluded from the elite ranks of Scottish youth football if the Scottish Football Association's 'Project Brave' blueprint is implemented, said: "The pleasing thing in a sense, apart from the result, is that there were no over-age players playing.

"In fact two of the senior members of that squad, Jack McMillan and Ross MacLean, weren't playing.

"So it shows the good work that has gone on both in terms of recruitment and development that (youth coach) Stephen Craigan is doing, a really good job.

"I asked Stephen this morning, who is the guy that, out of what happened, deserves to be even on the bench on Friday night? And he said Dylan Mackin.

"Dylan is a boy that we have a lot of hopes for but he has been slow to really get up to speed.

"But now he seems to be getting the message and that is an opportunity for me to at least put him on the bench and if I get an opportunity to get him on I will get him on and that will give him the encouragement that he is doing the right things."