Dundee United ended a run of 10 matches without a clean sheet with their win over Kelty Hearts on Tuesday, registering only their second of the season.
And defender Jamie Robson has called on the Tangerines to continue that defensive frugality as they return to league action this weekend.
Aberdeen, the top-flight’s fourth-placed team, will be a much sterner test than Barry Ferguson’s Lowland League champions at Tannadice.
However, Robson insists the 1-0 victory in the Betfred Cup in midweek can be a foundation to build from for Micky Mellon’s side as they go in search of their fourth Premiership win of the campaign.
And he’s delighted the Tangerines were able to put the shock 1-0 loss to Peterhead last weekend behind them so quickly.
He said: “Peterhead was a tough one to take but we showed good character to bounce back from that.
“I thought we were solid defensively, something we’ve been working on and we’ll keep doing that to get clean sheets.
“We were good on Tuesday night and we need to keep that up in the games coming.
“It’s hard when teams come to Tannadice and sit in. The lads needed to show a lot of discipline to keep the ball at the back, move it about and wait for opportunities to play.
“It was a tough game to grind out but we got a good 1-0 win we can build on for Saturday.
“It’s a lot better coming into the Aberdeen game on the back of a victory and the clean sheet is massive for us.
“We wanted to be solid at the back and now we want to maintain that and keep it going.”
The Dons come into the first New Firm Derby since March 2016 as one the country’s in-form teams with eight wins from their last 10 games in all competitions.
United’s return to the top flight, meanwhile, has stuttered in recent weeks but Robson is keen to see the Terrors get back to the defensive form they showed at the start of the campaign.
“We’ve shown we can defend well in the Premiership,” he added.
“Obviously the last few weeks we’ve been a bit slack in that but we’ve had discussions about in on the training ground – we know what we need to do.
“We need to get back to being defensively solid, we showed that against Kelty and that’s given us something to build on and get better at.
“Aberdeen are a good side and had a strong start to the season too. It’s important for us to be defensively organised but we need to be good going forward as well, be clinical at both ends of the park.
“They will come and want to have a go so I think the game will open up and be a bit more end to end than the Kelty game was.
“We know what the game will be about so we need to be prepared and up for the challenge.”
He added: “Aberdeen coming to Tannadice is almost like a derby. It’s a massive game.
“We need to show character and attitude and go into it full of desire, believe in ourselves because we know we can do it. It’s about putting a performance in to get three points.
“It’s got plenty about it to be an exciting game, both good teams who like to attack and score goals.
“Hopefully, it’s a good game.”