Stephen Glass quotes from the Pittodrie press room

A gruelling game on Thursday and a late return home from Sweden made no difference to the Dons today as they brushed aside Dundee United, 2-0 at Pittodrie. Stephen Glass was delighted with the professionalism shown by his team.

“It was a great performance. First half especially, you could see the intent of the group, the real desire to repeat the display against Häcken here. If we perform strongly at home, it bodes well for the season. I thought we were exceptional.

“We knew how Dundee United would set up. We told the players before the game not to get bored by having the ball. Sometimes in those situations, players can go looking for things that aren’t there.

“They chose the right options at the right moments, they looked very assured. You can present scenarios to them, but good players make good decisions, that responsibility is down to them and they took it well today.

“There was a real physical challenge from Dundee United too but they stood up to it and they kept their discipline. We need to cope with that and so far, we look to have a group that looks able to do that.”

Funso Ojo impressed in midfield again but limping off late in the day after a heavy tackle from Charlie Mulgrew. That didn’t detract from another strong display though.

“Funso’s is an impact injury, we don’t know as yet what that will mean for him as regards the game on Thursday. He’s a new player for me, he wasn’t here when we came in, he was away on loan. But what we’ve seen in training and in games is a player who will work very hard, can play a number of different positions, understands anything we ask from him in terms of tactics.

“He played multiple positions even today and that really helps us, especially with going back to three substitutions now. It means we can be more patient about making changes. We’re very pleased with him, but he’s just one of a number we’re pleased with.

“Christian did a lot of good work for the team on and off the ball and getting that goal is due reward. It wasn’t a tap in, the ball travelled a long way to get to him and you see strikers miss those, but he always looked like he was going to score. But Jet was the same, did great work for the team, he didn’t get a goal but he was just as important. He made a brilliant contribution.

“Jonny is a bag of energy, he keeps going and we see that in training every day. He’s a driving force in the group, has a great work ethic, and I’m delighted when boys that are team workers like that get their reward and get a little bit of the limelight.

“We pushed him further forward once we saw Ryan would miss out. He was in a bit too much pain and we felt it was better to use the group we have and not have any concerns in terms of their physicality. He got a kick on the ankle in the game in Sweden but he should be ok for Thursday.”

The final word was reserved for the fans back in Pittodrie once again, a novelty that isn’t going to wear off for a long time to come.

“Players respond to supporters. You can see they feed off the energy levels and then they give that back to the supporters. They can see this is a really committed group of players that are working for the team, that are proud to play here and want to achieve something.”

cinch Premiership Week 2