Motherwell 0 - 0 Aberdeen

On the back of their victory over Rangers last week, Neil Cooper's men had another impressive result this afternoon in Bathgate.

The Dons started with the same team that had beaten the Ibrox youngsters. Michael Dunlop, Clark Robertson and Ryan Fraser were still unavailable through injury.

In a tight game there were near things at both ends. Motherwell had a couple of shots past the post. Aberdeen also had a few efforts on goal. The best of which fell to Dean Carse. The striker was put through on goal by an excellent Cammy Smith pass. From a tight angle the keeper initially made a good block with his legs. Dean had a second chance but a defender got back to clear the ball off the line.

On a very heavy pitch the Dons passed the ball about well. And once again the Dons played some very good football but on a couple of occasions the final ball let them down, which was hardly surprising considering how bad the pitch was.

Dons keeper Danny Rodgers had another shut out and another good game. The Irish keeper did not have a lot to do but did well when called upon and made one great save in the second half. The Dons defended strongly and hit on the break using the pace of McManus and Carse and O'Neill. Near the end O'Neill had a chance when he was one on one but the defender got back to make a challenge.

Neil Cooper spoke to RedWeb after the game "The boys did really well and I felt we were the better team. I felt we deserved the three points. I was really pleased with the performance. We passed it about very well on a very heavy pitch.

"Cammy Smith played the whole game despite the fact he had played two games midweek with the Scotland U17s. He was outstanding today. There were a lot of very strong performances. Michael Rose again alongside Scott Rumsby in the centre of defence did very well. The back four were strong and Danny made a couple of good saves. The whole team defended well. When we did not have the ball we made sure we were nice and compact and made it difficult for Motherwell to play through us.

"Motherwell are a good side. They are always different games. They are five points ahead of us but have played a game more. After a difficult run of games we now play all the teams below us in the league. We have played all the top sides twice. That does not mean any of the fixtures are going to be any easier but we have to look to maintain our form and hopefully go on a good run again, pick up some points and move up the league in the weeks ahead."