Eoin Jess spots similarities between Jimmy Thelin's Aberdeen and 90s title chasing Dons

Aberdeen have found a way to win ugly in the Scottish Premiership this season, something former Dons star Eoin Jess knew how to do when he ran the show at Pittodrie.

The 'Portsoy Pelé' came close to the title on multiple occasions, ending up the runners-up to Rangers during the 1990s and arguably becoming one of the Reds' most talented players never to win the big one.

But he has spotted parallels between the sides he starred in and Jimmy Thelin's Dons who currently sit level on points with Celtic at the top of the table.

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After 11 games only goal difference splits the pair, and the Dons have shown they can dig themselves out of some tricky situations to pick up the victory.

"Sometimes they've not performed well but got the result," Jess told BBC Sport. "That's a sign of a good team. That's what we did back in the day.

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"You can see the confidence; good results breed confidence. And you can see they're playing for each other, which is great and refreshing to watch."

Aberdeen's only defeat this season was their Premier Sports Cup semi-final exit at the hands of Celtic - a painful 6-0 thrashing that came just weeks after the Dons pulled off their Parkhead comeback.

They retaliated in storming fashion, downing Dundee 4-1 in front of a packed Pittodrie crowd, and after their return to form Jess sees no reason why Thelin's men can't push the Hoops the distance.

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He added: "Who knows if they can maintain a title challenge... but they've bounced back with a really good performance [against Dundee] so I don't see why not.

"It's obviously going to be difficult, but we seem to be going the right way which is good for the club."