Aberdeen boss Craig Brown believes his squad has the depth to stay at the top end of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League table after they moved second with victory at Hibernian.
A patched-up Dons outfit jumped ahead of their rivals, and a point behind leaders Celtic, after Niall McGinn continued his recent hot-streak on 77 minutes to snatch a 1-0 success.
Brown's men otherwise had to rely on resolute defending, not for the first time this season, as their expanding injury list grew further.
Ryan Fraser and Gavin Rae were the latest names to become familiar with the Pittodrie physiotherapist's room - before Isaac Osbourne also limped out at Easter Road.
But despite that the Dons showed they are more than willing to roll up their sleeves with Brown lavishing praise on defensive duo Russell Anderson and Mark Reynolds as well as goalkeeper Jamie Langfield
"I don't like to pick out individuals normally but I thought Anderson, Reynolds and the goalkeeper were magnificent; particularly Anderson," he said.
"We are good on the counter attack. We played St Mirren recently and honestly it was an even game, but we won 4-1. We've had another game where we battered Ross County and they've come away with a 2-1 with goals on the break.
"It's just what happens.
"We've come here to the team in second place, with seven players missing - and these are first team players. So I think that shows we've got good resilience and a good attitude in the squad."
McGinn's strike was his eighth in nine league games although it owed to some fortune.
Johnny Hayes' cross nicked off Alan Maybury before the Northern Irishman ran onto the loose ball, killed it with his first touch and advanced into the six-yard box to calmly roll the ball past Ben Williams in the Hibs goal.
It was one of few Aberdeen efforts in a half that had been dominated by the home team.
But for all Hibs' attacking intent they did not have too many clear-cut chances, often limited to shots from distance.
Leigh Griffiths had the best of the home chances but the recently-capped Scotland international failed to find the net despite bombarding Langfield.
The Aberdeen goalkeeper parried a couple of efforts, and held a few others, but the more frustrated Griffiths became the more wayward his shots were.
It was unsurprising to see Hibs fail to register a goal with their prolific scorer enduring an off-day.
"He's brilliant and he's been brilliant for us," Hibs defender Alan Maybury said.
"Every time he shoots you think he's going to hit the target and on another day he might have got a few goals, but the keeper has played really well.
"I don't think Ben Williams has had one save to make but we've been beaten 1-0. It's been chance after chance but we don't take them and we get nothing out of the game.
"The last couple of games we've had chances to do better but we've had some luck along the way. You get bits of luck and some that go against you so I'm not going to dwell on ifs, buts or maybes.
"The important thing is that we played much better than last week and we need to carry that into the game on Wednesday."
