91Èȱ¬

Manager Derek McInnes was delighted with the way Aberdeen conquered both the weather and opponents Dundee to win 2-0 at Dens Park.

Niall McGinn and Adam Rooney scored first-half goals as the Dons dazzled in driving rain and gale force winds.

"The conditions weren't great but we still produced quality football at times" he told 91Èȱ¬ Scotland.

"We showed a real eagerness to get after the game and even in the second half we created some great chances.

Aberdeen took full advantage of the inactivity of rivals Celtic and Hearts to move to within four points of the Premiership leaders and the same margin clear of the team in third place.

This was their first away win since hammering Hearts at Tynecastle at the end of September, a result that marked their eight straight league win.

Now they head into the rematch between the teams at Pittodrie next Saturday showing clear signs that they are recapturing the sort of form that had them top of the table back then.

"The two goals we scored were excellent and we could have had another couple but the game is never done at 2-0," added McInnes.

"I thought the players were particularly good in the second half playing up the slope against the wind and rain. They managed the conditions really well as the wind seemed to get stronger in the second half.

"We are on a decent wee run even though people dwell on the October run when we didn't win any games and for us it's just good to win again."

It is an indication of the strength of squad McInnes has at his disposal that he was able to take the impressive McGinn off at the interval to protect the player from injury and replace him with Peter Pawlett.

"We took Niall off at half time because he had been struggling with a bit of a groin strain in the build up," he explained.

"That was the right decision as we have a lot of games coming up this month and we got him off at the right time.

"It was a great opportunity for Peter to come on and show what he can do and he certainly did that. He hit the bar and nearly scored with another chance so he did well and overall our keeper hasn't had too much to do."

The same could not be said for former Aberdeen player Scott Bain in the Dundee goal as he was forced into a number of crucial saves to limit the damage for a side with just one win in their last nine matches.

Dundee manager Paul Hartley took some consolation from the way his team played with more aggression in the second half but was far from happy with the way they started

He said: "I was disappointed with the performance, especially the first half when we couldn't cope with the intensity Aberdeen played at and we struggled.

"The second half was better as we worked harder and created a couple of chances but overall it was a disappointing day.

"We didn't start well enough. Give credit to Aberdeen as they started quicker than us but we were off the mark defensively and didn't pass the ball well offensively.

"We didn't stop crosses coming in and we gave away too many set plays which they took advantage of.

"Now we have got to regroup, get them together again at training on Monday and get them ready for next week at Motherwell."