The match
First and foremost we congratulate Burnley. It was a fantastic game and the intensity over the last two ties home and away has been quite remarkable at this stage of this season. You don’t get those types of games ordinarily. The proximity of the teams, the rivalry of Scotland V England and both sets of players have been very competitive with their intensity. Both sets of supporters helped generate what played out tonight. My first thoughts are disappointment for my players as they put so much into it and for my supporters. There’s no criticism or we can’t afford to be too disappointed as we’ve got to move on to the domestic game and Rangers on Sunday. It was harsh on us and somebody had to come out a winner and a loser and that’s cup football. Burnley got the all important goal in extra time and that next goal is usually the one that strikes the final blow psychologically. I thought 3-1 was harsh on my team truth be told and I thought we were very good over the two ties. We went toe to toe with a team like Burnley and we wish them well. We dust ourselves down and take the positives from it and there were plenty of that certainly in individual performances from my players. The personality and attitude I want from my Aberdeen team was clear in both games, but we have missed some opportunities to strike that blow that Burnley struck to us in extra time.
“We can’t dwell on it, but we’re almost sitting here thinking that could have been so different because there was nothing in the game for me. I thought we recovered well from going behind. They imposed themselves on the game and I thought they were very good in that opening 20 minutes. We recovered well and scored a brilliant equaliser and from then on in I thought we were always in the game. We knew that next goal would have finished them. We never got the goal, they did and that’s cup football.
The players and supporters
I thought Lewis Ferguson optimised a lot of my team. The focus is on because he’s so young going against good players and he is having to learn quickly and has that personality and confidence. He’s an outstanding young man and will only get better. Nothing fazes him and that’s what I love about him. Technically he deals with the ball, physically for 18 and playing against proper men in a physical game he dealt with that. Then when he got a moment to light up the game and show what he can do he took his goal fantastically well. It was no more than we deserved and i felt over the two 90 minutes to be level was about right. We had missed chances, my keeper has made some brilliant saves and the level of performance from my players was very good. Joe Lewis showed again tonight how important he is and could play in any league. I’m proud of my players, I’m proud of my supporters, I’m proud of my club tonight, but ultimately, we wish Burnley well.
“We’ve not got time to be disappointed and I said that to my players in there. It’s clear and raw at the minute, but we can’t have any hangover from this game affecting the next one. Physically there’s clearly a job to do to make sure we’re ready. The mental side of it we need to really reset ourselves and look forward to a domestic campaign that I’m excited by. When you see the ovation from the supporters at the end it’s not just in recognition of the players efforts it’s partly because they see something in this squad we can be excited about this season ahead. There’s no better game to try and get off to feeling better about ourselves than by winning on Sunday against Rangers. That’ll be tough but it’s a brilliant game to be involved and maybe just the perfect game to be honest after tonight.
Sunday
It was a very quiet dressing room and they were very down, which says it all. Nobody believed more than getting the result than they did and it’s a sign of where we are. We’re gutted and it’s raw disappointment we haven’t made more of our chances to win the game, which was the objective when the draw was made. It wasn’t to come and save face and make a good account of ourselves it was to win the tie. Both ties were played in that manner so when you put so much into it and don’t get through it’s gutting. We’ll pick them up tomorrow and the words for them tonight won’t mean a lot.”
“We need to quickly move on from the game because the next one is so quick on Sunday and with the extra time and early kick off on Sunday that’s the biggest concern at the minute, but when the dust settles we’ll be able to look back for me as a manager looking at my young players especially dealing with the situation and two games. Those types of experiences young and old mean it’s in the bank and they can use that for the games ahead.
Fitness
“McGinn and Sam Cosgrove were feeling the affects as well as Tommie Hoban. Tommie hasn’t had a lot of football in recent months so we made those changes. It’s no surprise at this stage of the season and both Burnley and ourselves wouldn’t have been expecting that type of game. The way the draw was made we finished second and got drawn Burnley. It maybe seemed a bit unfair at the time and it was more competitive than the teams would have wanted at this stage. A lot of players will be feeling the affects of that game tomorrow.
“McGinn and Sam Cosgrove were feeling the affects as well as Tommie Hoban. Tommie hasn’t had a lot of football in recent months so we made those changes. It’s no surprise at this stage of the season and both Burnley and ourselves wouldn’t have been expecting that type of game. The way the draw was made we finished second and got drawn Burnley. It maybe seemed a bit unfair at the time and it was more competitive than the teams would have wanted at this stage. A lot of players will be feeling the affects of that game tomorrow.
