Aberdeen skipper Graeme Shinnie had mixed feelings after his side had drawn 2-2 at Ross County in the season’s final game.

“The last half hour was tough with the red card and them needing to win the game. They were throwing everything at it and rightly so. We had a bit of luck in there as well, the guy hits a post, but we had to be resilient at the end. It was disappointing in a way because we went 2-1 up and like Wednesday night, it felt like we could have gone on and maybe got a couple more.

“The offside for Ester’s goal was really close, but we felt like we were in a good place again. And then there was a bit of slack defending, Angus gets sent off and it completely changes the game. With a penalty as well, they get back in the game straight away, so we knew what was going to come after that.

“They threw absolutely everything at us and were maybe a bit unfortunate not to nick it at the end. But we were delighted to see it over the line to finish seventh. We’re not amazingly proud about that, but from where we’ve been this season, the aim was to finish best of the rest. To do that from where we were gives us a bit of momentum going into next season.

“We’ve maybe hit form at the wrong time. I say that now, but going into the split, we weren’t a million miles away from the bottom! But if we could have hit this sort of form earlier in the season, you never know what could have happened. But that’s down to us not being good enough for large parts of the season.

“It’s a new era coming next season, which comes with real optimism after the last few weeks. We’ve given the fans something back because it’s been tough for them. There’s been a lot of low points in the league this season, but they’ve stuck by us. It’s going to be a big summer, a lot of changes, obviously, and a lot of optimism for next season.

“Peter has been absolutely brilliant since he’s been in charge. He’s had to pick up the pieces from this season and it has been tough. There’s been a lot of low points, especially in the league, the league form has been horrendous and not where we want it to be.

“I think the Dundee game away from home when we got beat 1-0 was the big turning point. We were stuck a little bit in between different styles of playing. After that one, Pete and the squad, we sat down and said, “Look, we need a real identity”, and we’ve found that. From that moment on, I think the form of the team and the players really stepped up. Some of the players now know where Aberdeen needs to be for next season, which is only going to do us good.

“Peter’s going to have a massive part to play next season. He knows the squad inside out and he’ll work with the new management and staff. We’re going into next season with real optimism now after finishing strongly the way we have.

“One of the positives of this season is the emergence of some of the younger players, you always want that as a club. We’ve been very fortunate towards the end of the season that Fletcher could come on and grab his two goals and bring a real sort of encouragement to the squad with that youthfulness coming through. The youth team has done so well this year, so there’ll be plenty more that will be looking to push on.

“Personally, the season has been up and down. The first half of the season with the European Games was tough physically. Trying to look after my body and recover from travelling and changes in food and drink in different countries, it can be tough.

“I felt like I was doing well in the European Games, but then not so well in the league games and was letting myself down a wee bit. But once they were finished, I thought my form really kicked on and was where I wanted it to be. The second half of the season was a lot better from me, so finishing strong has made me a bit happier.

“I love being the captain of this club. I’ve been captain for, what, five, six years. I enjoy that kind of pressure and I enjoy trying to help the boys through tough periods, though I’d rather we could just have good periods to enjoy!”

Gallery 54 | Ross County v Aberdeen