Dons boss Stephen Glass was frustrated that his side were denied a win over Celtic at Pittodrie but delighted with the way his team performed across the game tonight.

“I’m disappointed that we lost a late goal, but unbelievably proud of the players for the effort they put in. They were fantastic against a good Celtic team. They moved the ball very well, gave us a few problems, but I think we were ready for it.

“We were set up to break at speed and there were a couple of situations where I think people could see they should have been handled differently. When Jonny Hayes broke from their corner and got to the edge of their box, McGregor did not touch the ball, his body hit him, you could see his arm coming across the front of Jonny. He’s not going to dive in that position and we would expect things to be handled properly from there, but I’m not about to start criticising referees.”

It was a night where Lewis Ferguson took his goal tally into double figures for the season, but he might well have had one or two more in the game.

“To add to his goal, the goalkeeper made a good save from Lewis’ header, he hit the post with another. If one of those goes in, then we double the lead and we’re in a very good position, but we’re pleased to see him getting into those positions.

“I know we had limited possession, but we were a real threat when we broke and got into some good positions. I thought we were very organised defensively and made it difficult for Celtic, who are very good at the top end of the pitch, to create real clear-cut opportunities.

“We had to sit back more than we would like, but when a team as good as Celtic come here and have control of possession, that’s what you need to do, every team in the world does that. But it’s not a negative if you’re ready to attack on the break and willing to get players forward when you can, and we showed that side of us tonight.”

For the second game in a row, the manager was forced to make an early change because of injury to one of his players, this time to Ross McCrorie after just 15 minutes.

“Ross took a sore one on his ankle, it was just an accidental collision but I think Edouard fell on him and he took the weight on his ankle, so we’ll see how he is ahead of the weekend. Calvin Ramsay came on early on and did a really good job for us at right-back, Jack MacKenzie came on on the other side in the second half as well, so we had a couple of young full-backs out there, the kind of boys who are the future of the club, and they can be pleased with their work.

“Dean Campbell was excellent in the middle of the park, people forget how young Lewis Ferguson is as well, there are a lot of youngsters on that pitch. But the whole group, workwise, tactically, I felt they were excellent.

“Gary Woods came in and did a very good job for us, made an unbelievable save low down in the first half, saved the free-kick, was good with the ball at his feet but it’s credit to the team that he wasn’t having to make save after save. I think that shows a good defensive set up and also good positioning from the goalkeeper, he made it look easier than it was when he was collecting the ball.”

With the Dons unbeaten in four games, they head into Sunday’s Scottish Cup quarter-final in good heart.

“Last Saturday took a lot out of the players with it going to extra-time too, tonight has done the same because Celtic make you work very hard, but the boys had it in the tank to keep going, which says a lot for them. We’ll go into Saturday’s game knowing that Dundee United are a tough opponent but looking to win it and to get to Hampden. That’s our aim.”