Dons boss Jimmy Thelin was left to count the cost of missed chances as Rangers grabbed a last gasp equaliser at Pittodrie.
“I think the first half was really good. It was clear what we wanted to do, how we attacked the box, how we run open space for each other. The second half, when they played so low and wait for transitions, we got more time on the ball and we were passive. We start playing to each other instead of keep attacking the box. That’s the worst thing you can do in this kind of game when they play so low and just wait for transitions.
“It’s difficult to say right now why things happen sometimes. It can happen sometimes when you get more time on the ball. Instead of taking initiative, you send the ball to someone else to take the initiative instead of taking it yourself.
“Still, we created quite good chances in the second half, even if we didn’t attack as much as we wanted. But you know, the opponent almost always gets one chance. Sometimes they score, sometimes they don’t, but today they did.
“You have to attack them much more and go for 3-1 instead of subconsciously thinking about defending 2-1. It can happen sometimes, but we get a learning point from this today. We have to do much better. That’s why it’s so important to have an identity how we want to play the games against certain kinds of defence.
“It’s up to us to improve and do better next time it happens, be more aggressive in attack and keep attacking. Don’t give them so much time to reorganise or wait for the transition moments. When we put the ball into the box today, we created two or three really strong chances in the second half. That’s why we should be more consistent.
“So there is a lot of frustration with the result. You think about how the game went and how the game was, you feel like you have lost when this happened in the last second of the game. But we have to find a way to quickly move on now. We have an important game on Saturday.
“It’s easy to forget everything else when you lose that late goal. It feels like everything is bad, but there were still a lot of good things. The result was not good for us today, but the performance, the first half, some parts, how we created some chances in the second half was good. Then, of course, we have to do better in other parts also. When you have 11 versus 10, we can’t be so passive.
“Now we move on. Right now, all our focus is on the semi-final. If you win the Cup, then you’re guaranteed group stage football in Europe. Third spot might not necessarily guarantee that. What we’re working for is to cope in all competitions. That’s why we need a strong squad and a strong mentality. We have to go for both. We’re still in two competitions and we want to do well in both.”
