Dimitar Mitov, the Dons’ penalty saving hero, was lost for words when it came to summing up Aberdeen’s cup final victory after the game.

“Incredible. There are not words to describe it. When you think about what we’ve done to win the Scottish Cup final, after such a long time since they’ve won it last time. It’s something that nobody can take away from us and everybody involved in the football club deserves this.

“The belief came from the manager, because all week leading towards the final, it was, ‘When we win the Cup’, not ‘if’. That changes that mentality, puts it into your head, you visualise it, you see it, you want to do it even more.

“We know we have quality, we know we can defend better than when we played Celtic before, we know we can play against them. Yes, they’re the best team in the country at this moment in time, but we showed a lot of character, a lot of desire, everybody wanted it.

“This is what this football club should be all about. This football club should always be in Europe, always should fight for titles, and I’m really happy that we managed to give people something they’re going to talk about for a long time.”

Mitov made two crucial saves in the shootout, but he pointed to a different one as being even more crucial.

“I’m actually more happy about the Maeda save at the end of the game, before going to the penalties, because if he scores that, it’s done. But when it comes to the penalties, it’s almost a lottery. As a goalkeeper, you prepare yourself, you live for moments like this, but I’ve always said, I’d rather not go to penalties and win before that.

“But I was really happy that I managed to contribute the two saves. I wasn’t sure about the second one, because I almost thought I stepped over the line, because they checked the VAR straight away. It’s that horrible feeling inside, but as soon as the referee showed that it’s OK, it’s incredible. It’s something that as a football player, you always want to win major trophies, you always want to be at the top and today we’re going to celebrate for sure.

“And then we celebrate with everyone on Sunday. I’ve heard unbelievable stories about the Aberdeen parade, so bring it on. I can’t wait to meet everybody. It’s going to be great.”