Picking through the carnage of Wednesday night's defeat, Pittodrie was a sombre place to be today as players, staff and management looked back on another golden chance to reach the Scottish Cup Final which was tossed away on a desperately disappointing evening for the club and its supporters.

The players are well aware that they cannot feel sorry themselves, but for the supporters instead, their hopes of a trip to Hampden dashed once more. Fortunately, football always goes on and Saturday offers an opportunity to start atoning for the defeat in a huge fixture at Easter Road, one of three fixtures in which the top six will slug it out against one another over the weekend. Victory might not lift all of the gloom, but it would all but ensure a place in the top six and reignite the battle for third place. Defeat, especially in the wake of Wednesday, is not worth thinking about.

The players trained this morning and then Jimmy Calderwood did his pre match press conference ahead of Saturday's game. As ever, he spoke one to one with David Ridd for RedTV/Northsound 1 & 2. "As I said last night, it is a massive disappointment. We have let down all our supporters. The supporters were wonderful last night. If I was a supporter I would have reacted in the exactly the same way. I can only say sorry. All that is left for us is to try and get back into Europe and finish third in the League, and we will all be trying our very best to do that.

"You look at how we started the game and the chances we missed. The last 15 minutes of extra time we have dominated. It is the in between times when we went down to a level we should not go down to.We could have had the game finished in the first 15 minutes but we didn't.

"We lacked composure on the ball. We stopped doing the things we were doing well and started to doubt ourselves. We started taking an extra touch instead of playing one touch and turning them. People started to get restless and it escalated from that. I don't think Dunfermline hurt us that much it is just we never got the break through and then we have gone out on penalties which are a bit of a lottery. It is the second time it has happened.

"For the penalties last night, the players put themselves forward. Scott Severin put himself forward. He is our penalty taker and wanted to take the first one but Stuart Duff was adamant so Seve was happy for Stuart to take the first one. Charlie wanted to take the third one. Richard wanted to take one and Jamie Smith would have taken the fifth kick. Darren Mackie was injured. Chris and Sone were both off the field so could not take one.

"We know we can do better. The players know they have it in them. We had a wonderful run in November and December to get ourselves back up there and we have to do that again.

"The result last night puts doubt in your mind but they could not get from the bottom of the league all the way up the table and beat the Champions if they weren't as good as they were. They showed character then and they have to show it again.

"We have been written off before and come back.

"All the players are under contract for a couple of years so there will not be big changes like previous seasons. They are still a very young squad and they have to learn from it and as much as we are hurting, we have to get on with it. We did it last year after going out of the cup. We went on a wonderful run and if it was not for the disallowed goals at Celtic and Motherwell we would have been back in Europe again.

"This time it will be harder. We have a very difficult run in to get into the top six but once we get there we will give it our best shot to get into third.

"I am not a quitter. I am more determined than ever to succeed here. I don't think any of us have slept. But no one is going to feel sorry for us. We have just got to get out of it ourselves. We have done it before and we have to do it again.

"We have another massive game in 48 hours and we have to get up for it and get a result. First of all to get us into the top six and hopefully at the end of the season into third.

"We will have a talk with the players tomorrow and see how they are feeling. Sone was very, very tired. Jamie Smith is just back obviously so there is a doubt about him. It looks as if Darren is going to be out. Lee Miller is still out. Lee Mair is definitely out. Gary McDonald is back. So we will have a chat with the players, they have to be honest about how they are feeling and we need to take it from there. The game at Easter Road is going to be hard enough without players going into to it tired or carrying a small injury."

To listen to the full interview with Jimmy please click here

Despite being one of the players to miss a spot kick last night Richard Foster as ever did not hide away and took time out to speak with RedTV this afternoon.

"In the dressing room after the game you just sit there and can't really take it in. We all knew it was such a good chance for us. Today the reality of the situation hits home. The boys are all sick. The game was on again on TV and we are just sitting watching it. It is hard to take. We controlled the game for long spells but never had that cutting edge.

"I was quite confident as I stepped up to take the penalty. I had it in my head before we even started penalties which side I was going and I never changed. Unluckily for me the goalkeeper has guessed the right way.

"We should be challenging to be the third best team in Scotland. We should be getting to cup finals and semi-finals so we have failed this year.

"We cannot dwell on it for two or three weeks and let our league form slip. We have a big game on Saturday against Hibs. They are only four points behind us. If we win that game we move seven points ahead of them with three games to play before the split so it is a really big game for us."

To listen to the full interview with Richard, who, as ever, is very honest about the situation at the club, click here

Gary McDonald, who has been commentating on RedTV the past few games, is back in the squad for the trip Edinburgh and he is delighted to be back. "I feel good. I have trained Friday, Monday, Tuesday and again today and I have had no reaction to the injury which is great. Obviously I have not played a reserve game which I would have liked to have done this week but if I am asked to play then I am ready. I have missed my football and I am dying to get back in there. You forget how much you enjoy it and how much you depend upon it.

"I went down from the commentary box to the dressing room after the game and I have never seen a dressing room so flat. There is nothing you can really say to the boys. You go down to try and get their heads up but it is the same today. Everyone is still very down. We are all going to have to get it out of our systems as we have a big game on Saturday against Hibs who will be confident after their win over Hearts last week.

"The cup is gone. We blew it. We have now to think about third spot. That is the best we can do. We all have to pull together.I think Hearts will drop points so it is up to us to make sure we get into the top six first and when we do that we then get a chance to play all the teams round about us and it is in our own hands if we can get the victories."

To watch the full interview with Gary please click here

Supporters News

There are still tickets available for this game. Supporters will be able to pay at the gate. Prices are £22 adults and £12 concessions.

There are still spaces available on the AFC Supporters Bus. Supporters need to be at Pittodrie for 10.45am with the bus departing at 11.00am. The bus costs £15 return. To book a place on the bus please call 01224 63 1903.

PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL AGAINST HUNGER

The Scottish Premier League (SPL), the European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) join forces to organise the first ever Europe-wide football campaign against hunger, being held from 20 to 22 March.

This weekend's Clydesdale Bank Premier League matches will be used as a platform to promote the 'Professional Football Against Hunger' campaign. Players will wear t-shirts; tannoy announcements will be heard and website articles will be published; all aimed at raising awareness of the FAO's work in helping 963 million people across the world who are victims of hunger.

Fans will see similar action across Europe. Major leagues in Italy, Germany, England, Spain, Portugal and Holland will also be involved amongst others.

Lex Gold, Executive Chairman of the SPL, said: "Our clubs do a great deal of work in their communities to help people here in Scotland. But our clubs are well supported all across the world and this is a way we can do something for those less fortunate in other countries.

"We are keen to raise awareness of poverty to help tackle hunger and its causes."

The Secretary of State for Scotland Jim Murphy welcomed the initiative. He said: "It is great to see the SPL teams getting behind this Europe-wide action against hunger.

"Football is a unifying force across the globe and it brings people together around a common interest - using that community to do good and help eradicate

For more information please click here