Jimmy Thelin was clear that his Aberdeen side have set the standards they must meet for the rest of the season with their excellent display against Shakhtar Donetsk at Pittodrie.
“Of course we are disappointed we lost the game, but also proud of the players, how they pushed to the last. And the subs who came in and how they pushed to the last minute and tried to get an equaliser.
“The first part of the first half was quite good, more front foot, but then we go deeper and deeper. But Shakhtar is a good team and they can do this to you. But in the second half, we are not happy how they score the goals. How we put pressure on the ball holder, and then these second ball situations, we have to do better in this moment.
“We scored two goals against Shakhtar. When you do that, you have to be more stable in these defensive situations that arrived today to get the point or win a game against them. Because they are really skilful players when they get these opportunities. So, we have to do better and learn from this now. It was similar a little bit against FCSB, how they scored the goals.
“But the positive thing was that when we show some desire, passion, personality on the pitch, and we are fighting for Aberdeen Football Club, this connection with the fans is really, really strong. We have to build on this now and learn from this that we have always to go out on the pitch to show that we are fighting so hard for them. So that they can feel it and see it. That’s what we did today. That’s why there was a good atmosphere.
“We pushed to the last minute, but we have to have this mentality every game. Now we have to see how strong character and mentality we have as a team, because now we have an important game on Sunday and we need to show the same desire and passion for the fans.
“We have to stay in this level now of performance, and have this belief in ourselves, so the fans can feel that they can believe in us. First we have to start believing in ourselves and the way we want to play, and show this personality in every game we play from now on.
“Dundee have changed some parts from last season. They play really compact and overload some areas, and they’re ahead of us in the table. We have to look at ourselves and bring out this personality and fight for every metre on the pitch and create this atmosphere and connection with our fans. No one likes just words, they want to see action. And today we showed the fans, and the players got the response from them.
“Now we have to recover and do a really good performance to get the points and get into the league and start from there. Game by game, that’s what we have to focus on, because we are where we are.”
There was also a word from the manager for an impressive performance up front from Marko Lazetic.
“Marko is a young man and we know why we signed him, his capacity to run, and also of course his quality around the box. He always has to give 100% effort, that’s his way to compete and to grow as an individual. And we talk about how he can help the team better, because you are the first defender when you are a striker also. We need this, and today he showed that he can take this information and bring it out on the pitch.
“When you defend well, when you press well, then you also attack well, because you’re more connected with the game, you’re always there, you’re always on the front foot. He should be proud of his development. But now he needs to stay in this level every week. That’s the thing when you grow from a talented, potential player, to being a really good player all the time. So this journey has started today and I hope he can keep pushing forward.”
