UNDER-PRESSURE Dons boss Jimmy Calderwood is relieved that his players have a break thanks to the coming week's World Cup qualifiers.
Calderwood, who has taken even reasonable Dons' fans' patience to breaking point with yet another dire cup defeat, believes that the break will benefit his team for the fight for a Europa League spot.
A shagged-looking Aberdeen side battled to a 0-0 draw with Hibernian on Saturday after being knocked out of the Scottish Cup by First Division Dunfermline last week.
And Calderwood hopes the players can rebuild their confidence and stamina ahead of crucial pre-split games against Motherwell, Inverness and Celtic.
He said: "The international break has come at the right time for the players, especially after the cup debacle against Dunfermline.
"It was a tired effort on Saturday and the players looked out on their feet. It didn't help when Mark Kerr was sent off but the players stuck to their task to get what could turn out to be a valuable point.
"We have the hardest run-in of the teams around us before the split and we are going to have to improve for our next game at Motherwell."
