Mats Knoester was in bullish mood as he previewed tomorrow’s UEFA Conference League game with AEK Larnaca.

“I don’t see any reason why we cannot get a positive result. We have learned from last time in Athens. It’s a great opportunity again to show ourselves in a good way and to respond to the results so far. I can feel in the group that everybody feels the same.

“I think we owe the fans a better performance, but also ourselves. We showed a performance that’s not like us. We can do way better if you look at our team, our quality. I definitely think we owe them something.

“There were many things to discuss after the game in Athens, about the way we gave goals away very easily, very fast, one after another. We gave them all the time and space they wanted and made them look very, very good. That’s one of the main things we have to learn and we hopefully have learned.

“I feel like I want to show a better Aberdeen than we did in Europe last time. We need to keep together, keep the team together, be better structured. Don’t give them all the time and space.

“We have done things better already. It was a league game, but against Kilmarnock, which is not an easy game, we showed a totally different team. So there is no reason to not be able to get a result.

“In the league, we have three wins in four games. I think we showed after taking a few hits that we can come back as a team, we stay together and we get a result. We definitely showed positive things in that game at Kilmarnock, but that’s not a guarantee for whatever game is coming next. We have to do the same things right, again and again, but I do believe that if we pick up the right rhythm, we can get some good results.

“We have to adapt too. I think in Europe you play against teams from different countries, different football cultures, so you have to approach it a bit different to league games. I have played in these competitions with Ferencvaros, so of course, I hope my experience helps. But you have to not be affected by the atmosphere. Me personally, I blank out the crowd. I think you’re in the wrong job if you cannot handle the atmosphere. I think you have to enjoy it, but as soon as the game starts, you also have to be prepared.

“There have been some big results. Playing Monaco was a big one. The home game against Red Star was a very, very big game. Also in the qualification, that was my first game in the first team, against Slovan Bratislava and we won the game. So there are some big games that I enjoyed, and I hope we can enjoy more this season.

“We know this will not be easy tomorrow. Larnaca have been probably the shock team in the whole tournament so far. They’ve won two massive games, they beat Crystal Palace in England. They did a great job so far. But then this is different a game again by itself and there’s been some unexpected results. Maybe our loss was also bigger than everybody expected. Maybe tomorrow there will be another unexpected result.”

RedTV | to watch the match day minus one media conference in full please click here