Steven Ferguson wants Ross County to fly out of the traps today at Pittodrie to test Aberdeen’s recovery rate after tumultuous midweek Scottish Cup exertions.
The Staggies co-manager knows the Dons will have taken a huge lift from their extra-time exploits in the victory at Rugby Park.
But with County having the luxury of four extra days’ rest since their own high endeavours in the mud at Victoria Park against St Johnstone, any advantage will be gratefully received.
Ferguson, who lost the services of central defender Coll Donaldson to a cheekbone fracture ahead of the Pittodrie trip, stressed: “You can look at it two ways. Pittodrie is a great ground to play at and test yourself.
“But it is also a very daunting place to go, if you let that affect you.
“Aberdeen are one of the top teams in the country, with great strength in depth and an ability to play in many different ways.
“While we haven’t had great success in the two games previous against them this season, it is certainly the kind of game everyone here wants to be involved in.
“What we have to do is make sure we are involved in the game and make sure we learn from mistakes we’ve made against them in the two previous games.
“We want to give a better account of ourselves.
“We’ve been in positions where we feel we’ve let ourselves down in the game before and eradicated it in the next game.
“This is one that falls into that category. We need to treat Aberdeen with the respect they deserve, but what we can’t do is roll over.
“We need to make sure we’re physically up for the battle. We need to make sure we’re brave enough in possession of the ball to cause Aberdeen problems.”
That feeds into Ferguson’s determination to ensure County make a high-tempo, high-energy start to the match.
The co-manager stressed: “We look at Aberdeen’s game on Wednesday night and to go to extra-time on the astroturf down at Kilmarnock is not an easy task, albeit they got a fantastic result in the end.
“They deserve credit for that, but we need to look at us being slightly fresher going into the match – we must.
“Whether that has any bearing on the game, only time will tell.
“But we must look at that as an opportunity to get out of the blocks as quickly as we can and see if we can put Aberdeen under pressure.
“We need to really test how they’re feeling after that game.
“What we don’t want to do is sit off and let them build their way into the game because, Aberdeen being Aberdeen, they are a very good side.
“They will know how to do that, so we would envisage a high-tempo start to the game would definitely be an advantage to us after Aberdeen’s midweek exploits.”