His Hibees make the trip to Pittodrie on Saturday (19 March, 2022) in the 3pm kick-off.
We come into this one with confidence after an impressive 2-1 win against Motherwell in the Scottish Cup and face and Aberdeen side that are looking for their first league win of 2022.
Maloney’s first game was against Aberdeen at Easter Road and his side ran out 1-0 winners, but he admitted to Hibs TV that the Dons have changed a lot since then.
“Obviously very different from the first game, Stephen Glass was there, so things have definitely changed. Obviously, Scott Brown's left as well. They've made some signings in the January too. So yeah, they play slightly differently.
“I watched the game against Rangers. They did try and plan under pressure. So again, out of possession, we have to be very, very good, and then we have to show what we showed against Motherwell.
“That was something we were, maybe, lacking a few weeks before then, even though our performances at times were good, it was in that final third.
“We’re going to have to push our level starting with Aberdeen through every game now because every game does feel so big in the league at the moment.”
With the league table so tight, and moving ever-closer to the split, every game really does have a ‘cup final’ type importance to it at the moment, something Maloney is aware of.
“Every game that I've been a manager for feels like it’s been a big game. I put so much work and effort into each game preparing the team the best I can.
“The pressure from now until the split is going to be big, but that's normal for a really big club like this.”