Following Aberdeen’s slender defeat in Baku, Stephen Glass was full of praise for the character shown by his side in the most testing of circumstances against Qarabag.

“It was a tough game, as we knew it would be. The performance level, the fight we showed was brilliant especially second half. Bringing Connor on at half-time gave us chance to be a bit more aggressive, carry more of a threat in behind. We looked more compact and dangerous after the break, so the change served its purpose.

“We took the game to them a bit more, a bit more aggressive and playing higher up the pitch, and almost got our rewards for it. I think a narrow defeat is probably reward enough because we were under pressure a bit in the first half.

“We watched Qarabag on video before the game but you can’t feel the heat when you’re watching on your laptop or on the TV! It’s a tough environment, the players aren’t used to playing in that heat. That was tough, it saps the energy, but the players kept going.

“I’ve said to the boys that I think an average team gets beaten 3-0 or 4-0 here, but the heart and desire they showed and the ability to still carry a threat late in the second half, that was great character. Joe made a good save towards the end but that second half, there weren’t many other opportunities for them and that says a lot for us.”

The manager was understandably scathing about the dreadful quality of the pitch, as well as the part it played in a worrying looking injury to Andrew Considine.

“I said before the game I didn’t want to use the pitch as an excuse. I deliberately didn’t want to talk about it at that point and I didn’t want to detract from the fact that Qarabag are a good team as we saw tonight and will probably see again next Thursday.

“But we’ve seen the reality of it there, it was a disgrace, and it probably resulted in Andy getting injured which is a terrible thing to see happen at this level. The game shouldn’t be played on a pitch like that, both teams deserve better. It was a game between two good teams, with good footballers on both sides, and they weren’t given the surface to show their best.

“Beyond that, the big thing is it sets up a fantastic cup-tie in a great atmosphere at Pittodrie next week. They are a good team, as we saw tonight, but they will have to make changes next week, their captain Medvedev and Andrade are both suspended now. It’s them that has to travel this time, it’s a different climate for them, the game will still be going past midnight at their time next weekend, so we’ve got those things in our favour next time. We will look to take advantage of that, while being well aware of how good a team they are.”