Ahead of Thursday night’s UEFA Europa League play-off against FCSB, and what could be his 26^thgame for the Dons in Europe, skipper Graeme Shinnie is relishing the prospect every bit as much as he did the first.

“It’s just a feeling of excitement. We’ve worked hard all week in training. We’re ready for it. It’s a big opportunity and a big game. At Aberdeen, you want to be involved in these big games. European games are something different to domestic football. It’s one we’re all looking forward to, and we’ll give it our all. 

“There’s strong belief in the group. You have to have belief, or there’s no point in playing in the game. Every game we go into, we go into it thinking that we’re going to win and we have the belief that we’re going to win. Obviously, it’s going to be tough, we know that. These games are always tough. But the belief is there in the squad.

“It was a good first game at Pittodrie, pretty even to be fair. We made a couple of mistakes, gave away a couple of goals, but the character in the squad was enough to bring it back. It’s all in the balance, it has the makings of another good game. We know that we can win, so do they. 

“They’ll want to come out and start as quickly as they can, so we need to be ready. We need to be fully concentrating. They showed last week that if there are any slight lapses in concentration, at this level it gets punished. It’s vitally important that the whole team is concentrated in everything we do. That’s right from the first whistle. 

“We need to be aware at the back that they can hurt us as well. There’s a lot of the tactical side of it that we’ve worked on really well this week. It’s now about putting that into action.

“When you come away from home in Europe, you need to work as hard as you can. Give everything. The crowd will obviously be behind them. It’s a big stadium, the atmosphere will be electric. But you get used to that sort of atmosphere the more you play in these types of games. You’ve got to relish it and enjoy it. It’s these types of games in football that if you do win them, then you’ll always remember them after your career. They’re great moments if you make the go the right way.

“Playing in these games is where we want to be as a team, as a club, we all are focused on that. I’m getting on a bit now, but I’m still involved in these big games. I’ve still got opportunities to continue to achieve things in my career. If I could drive the team on to qualify for the Europa League, it would be another massive moment in my career. I’m more focused on the game and what we have to do in the game. But naturally, after it, if we can achieve it, then it’s a massive thing for all of us. We just have to give absolutely everything.”