Chirs Millar is convinced Derek McInnes is the man to restore Aberdeen fans’ pride in their team.
But the St Johnstone midfielder will be a happy man if the Pittodrie revival is put on hold for a week.
Saturday will be the first time a McInnes side has faced his old club in a competitive fixture and both the Dons and Saints are hoping to respond to Premiership defeats.
The Perth squad still has the McInnes watermark through it, with Millar one of several key men he brought to McDiarmid Park.
Millar knows that will give him an insight no other top flight managers will have, but he’s confident that it will be Saints not Aberdeen who get over their last league defeat the quicker.
He said: “There’s a few of us still here who Del brought to St Johnstone, and he knows what we’re about.
“The nucleus of the squad he put together has been carried through Dave Mackay, Steven Anderson, Frazer Wright, Murray Davidson and a few others.
“A lot of us were First Division players when he signed us and were looking to make that step up. Knowing how Del and Tony Doc work, they’ll be meticulous in their preparation for the game.
“It definitely adds an extra dimension to things. They’ll be hurting from their weekend defeat like we are. We’re both looking to bounce back.
“We deserved to lose, but they scored with their first two attacks and it was hard to come back from that. We’d been going so well that we’ll take it on the chin, react properly and try to get back to what we were doing before.”
According to Millar, McInnes is a master team-builder. The former Rangers and West Brom man was at his best in getting the Greenock man to move from his home town team five years ago when both were First Division clubs, and to put football above finance.
“When I came here I thought this was a club going in the right direction and that he was a young manager who I’d like to play for,” he said.
“There was the Morton connection there as well Del was a big factor in my decision to sign.
“I could see the squad he was putting together, and when you speak to him you get a sense of his desire to do well and how he goes about things.
“He’s very persuasive. I ended up coming for less money than I would have got to stay at Morton, so that tells you just how persuasive he is. It worked out great for me and he’s done well too. It was great working under Del and Doc and it’s good to see they’ve started well at Aberdeen.
“The Bristol job didn’t make him a bad manager sometimes things don’t work out for you and you just have to take your knocks. I’m sure he’ll get the best out of the Aberdeen players, but we’re out to stop him on Saturday, and that’s what I’ll be trying to do.”