Barry Robson was disappointed with his side’s performance at Celtic Park today, but was keen to take a wider perspective on what had been achieved by his team in the second half of the season.

“It was a game too far for us today. I think we’ve really squeezed everything we could out of the group and after the emotions of Wednesday night, we got more and more tired as the game went on, Ross McCrorie had to come off, boys were suffering with cramp and their hamstrings. But for all that, and as good as they’ve been, I’m not accepting a performance like that. Next season we need to be better than that.

“It’s hard for me to be critical when the team has given me so much the last few months, but I was concerned before the game that we might not be able to raise ourselves again for this one. You have to give Celtic credit too. They have massive quality in their team and they are difficult to stop when they’re playing well. I’m sure Ange has had a go at them after the last two or three results, and they’ve fired into gear today, but for me, it was very frustrating to watch.

“We understand the difference in finances. I’ve played for Celtic, I understand the advantage that gives them. All we can do is be as good an Aberdeen team as we can be and the bigger picture is we finished third in the league, that’s the most important thing.

“European football is important to us and we got there. We need Celtic to do us a good turn on that front next weekend but obviously the prospect of playing in European football next season makes us attractive to players. We need to compete there, we need to be fighting in the top half of the table again next season, and we need to do the work on that across the summer.”