Aberdeen’s Europa League future is hanging by a thread going into the second leg of the tie against Rijeka. The Dons trail 2-0 ahead of the tie at Pittodrie.
Derek McInnes’ side will be under pressure to get the victory that will book the team a place in the Europa League play-off rounds.
If he feels under any pressure though, McInnes certainly isn’t showing it. He sounds confident that the Dons can pull off a memorable European victory.
“We’re full of belief”
“We’re absolutely confident. We’re full of belief, and we have to be” he said, as reported by the Evening Express.
However, the manager did concede that the Dons must open the scoring in the game.
“We need to score the first goal. It doesn’t even need to come in that opening period – we want it to, and we’ll be doing all we can to ask the question.”
Absence of key man is a blow
McInnes is doing the right thing by talking up Aberdeen’s chances. However, the chances of an Aberdeen victory have been severely hampered by the absence of top scorer Sam Cosgrove.
Still, that gives another Dons player the chance to be a hero on the night. As McInnes indicates, Aberdeen really do need to score the first goal.
If they do, then Aberdeen will have a real chance of making it to the play-off stages. McInnes is saying the right thing, now it is time for the team to match those words.