Derek McInnes

“To come up here, to a difficult venue and to dominate the whole proceedings was very pleasing.

“We were very aggressive, we made good use of the ball and played the game in their half of the pitch. I thought it was just with that final pass and final shot that we needed to be braver. I thought we passed up one or two opportunities. A combination of that and their goalkeeper making some saves meant in was 0-0 at half-time.

“It was difficult to criticise the players, we just told them to back themselves and get in more shots, work the goalkeeper more. I thought we did that to an extent but we did say at half-time it does not always need to be an Adam Rooney, a Niall McGinn or a Jonny Hayes who comes up with the winning goal. We said to each player to take it upon themselves to have that responsibility. Probably bottom of that list was Shay Logan! Actually, Shay has a very good record of scoring up here.

“It was such a great sight to see a winning goal in front of our supporters. There was maybe a touch of fortune with the goal but it was no more than we deserved. It was a thoroughly professional, strong, committed performance, exactly what is required in a cup tie. You could see the hunger in the players and there was so much good about us.

“Seeing so many Aberdeen fans celebrating with the team at the end pleases me no end. It felt special as soon as the players came back in from the warm up. The game was going to be big enough anyway but the supporters definitely added to the tie this afternoon.

“So we also mentioned at half-time that we wanted to score in front of our fans and wanted to use them to suck the ball into the net. How Shay’s shot goy there I don’t know, I’m not sure if it took a deflection.

“We did not want a replay for a lot of reasons. We did not want another game which might have affected our league form, so we came here to win.

“We did discuss making changes – getting a Miles Storey, Peter Pawlett or Ryan Christie on, someone who could open things up for us – but we were concerned they might leave us a bit light from set plays. We had to keep the height on the pitch. You saw at the end there when they played in some high balls into the box, they are a big side, so we had to deal with that. But we got there in the end.

“We have another game coming around very quickly with the visit of Motherwell on Wednesday but I think we should enjoy this win tonight. The supporters have come up here in huge numbers and they should go home happy. The players should give themselves a pat on the back for today’s work. We then pick up on Monday for the Motherwell game. It will be another tough game but it is certainly one we are looking forward to. That is seven wins out of our last eight. We are showing good form and when you are playing like that and performing like that, the games cannot come quick enough.

“Mark Reynolds has a nasty gash at the top of his ankle. It is a nasty wound. He may have some ligament damage but I am hopeful the fact that he was able to play indicates it is nothing too serious. Thankfully, we had someone of Anthony’s ability to come on.

“We will have to change the side for Motherwell as Graeme is suspended and there might be an issue with Mark as well. There are some boys itching to get some game time, so I am confident we can cope with that.”

“We will have to change the side for Motherwell as Graeme is suspended and there might be an issue with Mark as well. There are some boys itching to get some game time, so I am confident we can cope with that.”