It took the Dons a little while to get going against East Kilbride, but manager Jimmy Thelin was pleased to see his side “find the solutions” to go on and win the game with something to spare.

“I think it was a professional performance. They started well, they had a chance in the beginning and then they get the feeling that they believe in themselves. We struggled a little bit in the beginning with the man-marking, but then we found solutions and got into the game step by step.

“The players work hard to have a clean sheet, with the priorities in the right order, and then working from that, hopefully we can get a more fluid game. But I also have to say East Kilbride did well today in their defending, how they tried to block us, but we found a solution, so that is good.

“I think we produced quite a good performance. It was a tough training week, so we got a lot of minutes in the legs for a lot of players today, we had four different goal scorers, and Ross had a clean sheet which is good.

“The most important thing for us for now is to try to find ways to win in these games. It’s important in the Cup. We want to develop the team and get some minutes for the players on the pitch also, because as soon as we have the league starting, we have to keep moving and pushing.

“The whole season is an evolution of the team, so we need to keep working the whole season. It’s not like competing at the Olympics in Paris and it’s just one day. We have to grow all the time, there’s going to be some in and out maybe in the squad, and we just need to keep pushing, pushing, pushing.”

Shayden Morris impressed again and found his first Aberdeen goal in the second half, while Vicente Besuijen made his first appearance for the Dons in 18 months. The manger was pleased with both of them.

“Shayden has done really well in the friendly games, but now also the cup games. I also think he did quite well on the left side today, I think the running was quite good, the inverted running. I think he’s always a threat to the opponent with his speed and qualities in crossing, and the opponent can never relax when he’s on the pitch.

“I want to give the players opportunities to show themselves. Vinny has had some problems with the hamstring in the last weeks, but today was his first game, and while he was fresh, he did well. He can’t play in 90 yet because he hasn’t trained fully, but he did well. He protected the ball well, he found some combinations, and he worked hard.”