The Dons jetted out to Georgia early this morning from Aberdeen airport. Before leaving manager Derek McInnes previewed the trip on RedTV:

Team News

“We have picked up a couple of injuries with Michael Devlin and Greg Leigh in pre-season which has not been ideal.

“But we have Funso Ojo nearing fitness and clear to play now. Although he is a bit behind the others he has been training well and Craig Bryson did not travel to Finland with the intension of being fit for this one. Whilst we are not expecting either of those boys to be 100%, it will be good to get both those lads on the flight and part of the squad. I think their experience will be good for us.

“Just having them there and available sends out a strong message that we have a bit more depth in the middle of the park where we have been a bit short.

“Ethan Ross and Connor McLennan picked up little strains from the game on Saturday at Keith which is disappointing. So neither of those two boys will travel and Stevie May won’t travel as he has a few things to sort out at this end.”

Opposition

“You would think that they will be a step up from the Finnish side.

“When you go through the rounds you would expect that.

“It is always difficult to tell until you are playing against them, but from watch their games, Chikhura Sachkhere look another very capable technical side. From middle to front they have some good players who can interchange. They have players who can handle the ball well. They like to push the full-backs on and ask the question of you in possession.

“The games against Fola Esch, I thought they deservedly went through. Fola went down to ten men in the second game which pretty much ended their chances of recovering the first result. But having watched both games the Georgian side looked very comfortable in the tie and they deserve a lot of respect.

“We will have a job on our hands to overcome them, there is no doubt about that.

“So from looking at all that, you would have to say that it is a step up and in the last round it was tough because we did not capitalise on our possession and our chances and although we get through eventually, we did not get it all our own way.

“So we have work to do and ideally we would like to go over there and be difficult to play against.

“We don’t want to give them too much encouragement and have to get the balance right between attacking and defending.

“We are strong on the road, as we proved last season and we have already won our first away game so we need to draw on that and hopefully we can go back to Pittodrie with a positive result.

Strong Start

“It can happen (losing the goal so early in Finland).

“I don’t think it was a lack of concentration or anything like that. We just did not deal with the first ball up. They have anticipated it and then picked up the next one and have had enough encouragement to get a shot away.

“Sometimes that can happen. The good thing about that game was, at least we had plenty of time to rectify the situation.

“We want to try and go there and get a positive result. With the players we have got and the team we have got, the emphasis is on us to try and win the game. But it is all about trying to win the tie and I have always felt that it will take two good performances to get through any European tie.

“So we don’t need to win it in this leg, but we certainly have to make sure we are not out of the tie.

“We will try and be smart with our work.

The Heat

“I know it is a later kick off and that might help in a sense, but if it is to be 30 plus degrees during the day the temperatures are not going to drop too much by the time the game comes around.

“That is something we have had to deal with in the past and it is a consideration tactically how we set up and how we want to play.

“I have said before at this stage of the season we are undercooked a bit in terms of preparation compared to the teams who have played already. It is important that we try and use our energy well and at the right times.

“I think we will be fitter from having had the first two competitive games.”
Prefer having the second leg at home?

“I am easy either way when I comes to deciding if I prefer to be away or at home in the first leg.

“Sometimes if you are at home you can go and impose yourself in the first leg and then have the confidence going into the second leg. But either way, I am not too fused about it.

“If we can get a positive result then obviously coming back here to a more or less a full house can help us over the line, the crowd can pay dividends for us.

“When we went to Rijeka and got a really positive result, there was maybe a feeling that it was a formality here but we knew the strength of the team we were playing against and there was still work to be done. The crowd helped us that night.

“I think coming home after having had a positive result, it can help matters.”

Rijeka

“It will be a tough tie for whoever wins this second round tie; hopefully it is us.

“You see some of the teams that we could have played – the draw could have been slightly kinder, or slightly harder. There is a familiarity about the tie and we have fond memories. But you can understand why I am reluctant to speak about the game.

“We have to deal with Chikhura Sachkhere and they will provide tough opposition for us. They have some good players without naming them here. We have identified two or three players who we need to be on top of. Hopefully there is a solid team performance and we can build on the last couple of games.”