Sam spoke with the media after the defeat to Celtic at Pittodrie.

“Football’s a game of fine margins and they were more clinical in our box. We’ve had some great chances in the first half to put it away and I think 3-0 is harsh on the balance of play. We’ve got to be better in their box and our box though.

“It was a great save from Bain from myself, but they’re the chances we’ve got to put away. When the team’s up against the wall we can take massive pressure off everyone else if we put those chances away. I think all the forward boys have got to take a lot of responsibility. I’ve got to do better potentially with that shot then Willo’s (James Wilson) got to do better also. We’ll learn but as forward players we’ve got to take a big chunk of that responsibility.

“You cant get away from hard work. We’ll get back to the training pitch and have done it time and time again this season. We’ve picked up some very big results against big teams and have come close to beating them here too. We can do it, but it’s those fine margins that sometimes you can’t overcome on the day.

“The core nucleus of the squad of 15/16 senior players are fantastic and we were missing some big players, but since the boys have been missing the boys that have come in and taken the responsibility have been absolutely fantastic. The overall performance showed that today. We were comfortable, soaked up a lot of their pressure at times and caused them problems. We’ve got a lot to take from that.”

“We’ll most likely recruit well and a club like Aberdeen we’re always striving to get to as close to the top of the table as we can. I don’t think there’s anything to fear and we’ve shown we can get some good results against them this season. We’ll be looking to do the same again next season.

“It’s been a massive learning curve for me. It’s what I’d class as my first full professional season and having the games at the start against Burnley were absolutely fantastic. I then found myself out the team for a spell, but coming back in and scoring the goals I have I’ve got to put pressure on myself again to do exactly the same.

“It’s vital that we get to Europe again. There’s a big pressure on Aberdeen and have done it in numerous years. We’ve always got into Europe through second place and unfortunately we’ve not got there through second, but I think it’s going to go down to the wire. It’s our focus to get as many points as we can and get that last spot.”

“It’s vital that we get to Europe again. There’s a big pressure on Aberdeen and have done it in numerous years. We’ve always got into Europe through second place and unfortunately we’ve not got there through second, but I think it’s going to go down to the wire. It’s our focus to get as many points as we can and get that last spot.”