The Dons came through a fierce, physical evening of football at Pittodrie to book their passage in the UEFA Conference League play-offs, and manager Stephen Glass was understandably delighted with the outcome.

“Above all, I am very pleased that our team produced the goods on the pitch, produced a workmanlike performance, when we were not at our best but were still good enough to get into the next round.

“First half, we weren’t as effective as we’d have liked to have been, we didn’t get enough pressure on the high up the pitch and we had to change the shape to affect the game.

“We needed to make that change at half-time. I wouldn’t say it was bold, it needed doing. If you sit on your hands, if you doubt yourself and your judgement you can find yourself in trouble.

“In fairness to the players, we should have scored in the first half but what I would say is that the character of the side shone through. The players that came off didn’t come off because of their performance, it was because of what we needed on the pitch for the team. The players understand that, they know it’s a group effort. We have to take decisions as a staff and it’s me that has to pull the trigger at the end – that’s part of my job.

“Any time we’ve changed shape or asked them to do something slightly different, they’ve been excellent. They kept at it. It would have been easy to think it wasn’t our night and let a good footballing team score a couple of goals against us and we’d have had a different result, but the response from the players was excellent. If we’d taken half our chances, we would have scored five again.”

The changes at the break were quickly rewarded, the Dons opening the scoring within two minutes, Funso Ojo injecting fresh energy into the side.

“Funso’s pace and quality was brilliant, he really made an impact on the team and energised things. When we started the second half as we did, we showed the crowd what we’re about, they responded, they backed us and we created a whole different atmosphere. It was a little bit boring in the first half, it needed to change. We needed to be more aggressive and the players gave us that.

“The change of shape helped Ryan, and he’s sitting in the dressing room disappointed he’s not scored three or four goals instead of just the two. But he did plenty of other work for the team tonight as well, which is very important. That’s true of all of them. Anything we do will be as a group. If they’re not in the team, it’s easy for players to feel they’re not part of it but we’ve already seen that everybody in the group has a contribution to make and that will continue.”

While the double goalscorer understandably carried off the man of the match award, there were plenty of individual displays to admire, including another commanding display from the Aberdeen skipper to enjoy.

“The experience Scott has, especially in Europe, is invaluable. He’s played more European games than a lot of our guys have played games in total. You saw a guy that can control a team. When it’s noisy like this, it’s not easy to get your message across from the side but when there’s a member of your staff on the pitch doing that, it’s a real asset.

“His quality is unbelievable and continues to be as does his work-rate. We knew what we were getting with Scott but nights like tonight show it. I think that’s why the opposition get a bit frustrated because they’ve maybe never played against someone like that before.”

Qarabag FK are the Dons’ opponents in the play-off, necessitating a long trip out to Azerbaijan for next Thursday’s game.

“We’ll leave a day earlier for the tie in Baku because of the travelling, and we’ll look to go there and compete and aim to bring the tie back to Pittodrie where it’s still alive and where we have a chance of progressing. Another Thursday night here under the lights with that kind of backing, I think you’ll see a really determined Aberdeen side, hungry to make the group stages.”