Dundee United captain Sean Dillon believes revenge won’t be on the Aberdeen players’ minds this afternoon.
The Dons visit Tannadice with memories still fresh of their 3-0 home hammering from the Tangerines on the opening day of the Premiership campaign.
Crisp and clinical attacking football got United’s league campaign off to a flying start at Pittodrie on August 10.
Ryan Dow opening the scoring from the tightest of angles after a defensive blunder by Ash Taylor then Gary Mackay-Steven made it 2-0 to the visitors just before the break.
United subs Chris Erskine and Mario Bilate then combined to grab the third, with the former steering the ball home in the final minute after a great run by the latter.
It was a sore one for the Dons, who had been looking to show they deserved the tag of pre-season favourites to finish as best of the rest behind probable champions Celtic.
The Tangerines moved top of the table that day and have been back and forth since.
They currently sit in third spot and now have the Dons just one place and three points behind them going into today’s eagerly-anticipated clash.
And it will be a desire to catch United rather than the need to avenge the opening-day defeat that will be uppermost in the minds of Derek McInnes’s men today, according to Dillon.
“That was a great result and performance,” reflected Dillon.
“I think we got the goals at the right time.
“Dowser had his one gifted to him but he still had to stick the ball into the net, while GMS grabbed a second just before half-time.
“To round things off, Chris got the third with a sucker punch just before the end so our timing was good.
“We managed to hit Aberdeen just as they were picking up and starting to have a go.
“It was nice to get such a convincing win because they had the better of us last season.
“Hopefully, this season it will be our turn.
“As for revenge, I’m not sure that will be a factor.
“It doesn’t matter if you have won 10 games or lost 10 games, you still want to win the next one.
“As a player, you don’t think about what has gone before.
“So I can’t imagine Aberdeen will be up for the game any more or less than they would have been had they won that first game of the season.
“They will want to catch us and they have been picking up results.
“When you are going well the media spotlight is on you more than normal and we have had that at times this season.
“A couple of results and everybody is talking about you.
“At other times, you can go about your business without the attention, with nobody really taking note.
“Aberdeen have quietly moved up the table into fourth but I would expect them to be there.
“It is not a surprise to me.”
United played some sparkling stuff up in Dingwall eighth days ago as they raced into a 3-0 lead over Ross County.
They gave the home side hope by conceding twice late on but held their nerve.
So it was a mixed bag of a display and Dillon is not sure how it will go this afternoon.
He would love United to turn on the style but if they don’t and still win then he will still be happy.
“Ideally we will win the game and put on a good show,” said the Irishman.
“I hope it’s a great match but I would be happy to take three points regardless of the quality.
“I just want to win.
“If we can do that by playing some good stuff then great.
“Mind you, if it’s one of those games and we still get the victory then I will be just as delighted.
“There will certainly be a lot of attacking talent on display.
“I know a few of their lads and they have Adam Rooney and Goodie (ex-Tannadice man David Goodwillie) in their team.
“But we also have a lot of talent and Nadir (Ciftci) was back on form up at Ross County last Friday.
“So we will see how it goes on the day and I am really looking forward to it.”