Barry Robson spoke to the media on Wednesday lunchtime to preview our Viaplay Cup tie with Stirling Albion on Friday night. RedTV subscribers can watch in full through the video above.

“It is going to be tough. We have been watching a bit of Stirling over the past few days and we are going to do some more match prep on them after this. We are preparing like we would prepare for any normal game, we know it is going to be difficult down there. Darren Young is experienced in the game, he has been in the game a long time and he is a good manager and they are going to make it difficult for us. We know it is going to be a hard game for us and we need to be prepared and ready for it.

“For my staff and I, we are not thinking about Europe at the minute, we have been in this game too long to fall into that trap. We are pretty organised with what we want to do against Stirling. We know how we want to play and we have done a bit of a lowdown on their players and systems and all of those sorts of things. We are going through all of that at the minute and seeing where we can try and hurt them. We will see if we can put a good performance on for a lot of fans who are coming there again as usual to support us.

“I think every competition is important for Aberdeen. We have got a history in it as a football club and its one that we want to do well in. It’s a big national cup competition that we want to be part of and we want to get as far as we can.

“We have seen so many cup upsets over the years but it is not a trap that we are going to fall into. We will make sure that we are there and we will make sure that we give our all in the game. We know it is going to be difficult, Stirling will have things in the game with how they are going to play and how they will hurt us. We need to make sure that we turn up, we are at our best and we work as hard as we can, especially with the fans there and make sure we try and get a positive result.

“I have known for long enough that you need to be at it in cup competitions. Before anybody asks, no I will not be resting anybody. We will be at full strength. It is too important and we have too much respect for teams that I know that have good managers and are well organised. I don’t sit here and try to play with teams and squads. I know what I want from my players, what our fans expect and what we expect as a football club. We want to win the game.

“We will get Jonny Hayes back on the training pitch tomorrow and he should be available. We have had Angus back on the training pitch this week and he has been looking pretty good, he needs a bit of time. Angus will tell you that he can play Friday but he needs a bit of time. The fitness team have worked hard with him over the past four weeks so we are pleased with that.

“Jimmy McGarry has come in and I think he was desperate to try and get somewhere near the game but he was told he has a two week pre-season to get on with as well! Jimmy is going to find out the hard way what he is going to have to do over the next couple of weeks.

“Rhys Williams played last night in the SPFL Trust Trophy which is a real positive. When we looked at him and Angus, we thought Rhys was maybe a bit more ready to play in the game last night. He still needs a good bit of work and we need to be careful with him, he has had a couple of issues with his back. I don’t want to start rushing him and Angus back and then lose the two of them again, we need the two of them up to speed. The boys at the back at the minute have been very, very good, especially at the weekend there, I thought they were outstanding.”