After his side’s epic late comeback to defeat Hearts 2-1 at Pittodrie, Stephen Robinson pointed to the character of the side that has largely been assembled this summer.

“If you're going to win, doing it in the last minute makes it a lot more exciting! What I can categorically say is that wouldn't have happened last year. When I came in, I thought we lacked fight, we lacked desire. But we showed that today, and with a lot of new players as well. They showed great character to come back against, make no mistake, a very good side. It's a fantastic result for us.

“I've seen four wins now in the Cup, a lot of good stuff on the ball because we dominated. But today's a different test. You've got to deal with the physicality of set plays, which I thought we were excellent at. You've got to deal with people like Braga and Ba-Sy, who are very good players. We've done that really well.

“We showed hunger and that's something I thought the club lacked when I came here. It's only a start. It's a small step in the right direction.

“I thought it was quite an even game. I didn't think there was a lot between the two sides. Both teams had periods, but we started to build and had more possession, created more openings, without our final pass being right. I've got a belief in the squad. I've got a belief in the players we've brought in.

“There was a lot of stuff that was very, very good. I thought final third, we could have been better, our decision making could have been better. But the shape, the press was very good at times. And ultimately, we got our reward for that discipline.

“I was lucky enough when I came last year, the crowd was 17,000 and we were in a relegation battle. The atmosphere the fans created today was brilliant. Football's not cheap. It's costly to bring a family to watch football. So the least you can do is you run to the final whistle. You give absolutely everything for the badge. We've put a team together that I believe will do that.

“You look at Toyosi, he just never gives up. He gives you strength. He gives you pace. Out in wider areas, he hurts full-backs. He never stopped running. There was one in the first half, he ran 60 yards to track back. If I'm a fan in the stand, and you see that desire and application, you forgive a lot of things. He epitomises the work ethic that we want.

“Chris Cadden played 30 minutes on Thursday night and drove up the road, had about two hours sleep, but he's got a young baby, so that's probably normal for him! Dan and Lewis were strong, Nesta as well. I thought the whole back four were terrific. It's hard for me to single one of them out. I thought the four of them were excellent.

“I thought all four subs came on and gave us a bit of impetus and energy. That's maybe a luxury I've not had before, when you're able to run with a squad where it's like for like. The boys that came on made a real impact, and that's what we have a squad for. That's why people have to train well, play well, because we have real competition fo r places.

“When you come from off the back of that cup run, you don't know how good a side you are. You're meant to win, you're meant to have 60, 70 per cent possession and dominate games, which we did. But until you're put to a real test, like Hearts, you don't know how good you are. I think there's a lot of improvement in this squad. There's a lot of progress still to be made, but a lot of good stuff so far.

“The turnover of the team is enormous. It's certainly not ideal. It's not what you want to do, because you have a minimal amount of time to do that. You have three weeks to get a team gelled together to play in the cup. But it was necessary. I felt the whole club needed a revamp. I felt that they needed different characters, different mindsets, people that understand this league.

“We've got a fan base that are desperate to jump onto something to give them hope. I believe we've given them hope today. The players will have enjoyed being part of that with the supporters, rather than maybe feeling the pressure sometimes. There's pressure to play for Aberdeen. You have to cope with it. That's why our recruitment's important. You have to be able to come here, take the stick, take the criticism when it's justified.

"Sometimes you get it when it's not justified. That's football. But you have to handle it, and they showed they could today.”