Jimmy Thelin wants a sharper Aberdeen at both ends of the pitch

Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin admits Aberdeen need to be sharper at both ends of the pitch after a frustrating 1-1 William Hill Premiership draw with Dundee United.

Jesper Karlsson netted from close range to level the scores for the Dons, who had dominated possession but fell behind after Amar Fatah outmuscled Nicky Devlin before curling the ball past Dimitar Mitov.

And Thelin also admitted his shot-shy side need to improve in front of goal to avoid the frustrations of the Pittodrie crowd.

He said “Now the feeling is not good because we didn’t win the game, and the way we didn’t win the game…

“The first half was OK. They played quite deep and did well but the way we put in our crosses and the fight for the ball in the box was not there. We didn’t have the first touch on the ball most of the time.

“We had control in most situations, but the goal they score – we make it so difficult for ourselves.

“We have had some good performances at home, but we have this frustration in going behind. We have to chase the game and this is a thing we have to do better in.

“Teams need to do more to hurt us, and we need to do more in training with the crosses and arriving in the box against the low block, and take the responsibility of taking shots.”

United boss Jim Goodwin said: “I thought a draw over the 90 minutes was relatively fair. I thought Aberdeen were the better team in the opening period and we actually got our goal against the run of play.

“Albeit we set up to be dangerous on the counter-attack and try to isolate our players in one-v-one situations. We know Fatah has got that in his locker – I thought it was a really well taken individual goal. (I was) really pleased to go in, having not played particularly well, leading at half-time.

“In the second 45 minutes both sides had spells of creating chances, albeit not glaring opportunities. The goal that we concede is a disappointing one as far as we’re concerned.

“We know the quality Aberdeen have in attacking areas. Dave Richards has done really well since coming into the team but he knows himself that save has to be away from goal rather than back out into the danger area, and it was a bit of a sucker punch at the time.”