Aberdeen boss Stephen Glass has issued a ‘no fear’ rallying call ahead of the club’s biggest European clash in more than a decade.
The Dons face Azerbaijan side Qarabag in the Europa Conference League play-off second leg at a packed Pittodrie.
Should Aberdeen overcome a 1-0 first leg deficit reward is qualification for the group stages in Europe for the first time since the UEFA Cup in 2007.
The Dons suffered the ‘hammer-blow’ on the eve of the date with destiny with confirmation defender Andy Considine will be out injured for four months.
Scotland international Considine caught his studs on the atrocious pitch in Baku in the first leg and had to be stretchered off.
Glass confirmed the 34-year-old has undergone cruciate ligament surgery and will be out until after Christmas.
Boss Glass has fired up the Dons to pick themselves up from that injury set back as they face a Qarabag outfit that has qualified for the group stages in Europe in each of the previous seven seasons.
Glass said: “We are not going in fearing anything.
“We believe we can win, 100 percent.
“Obviously we are aware of their dangers and their qualities but if we do the right things and at the right time we can make it a special night.
“We are going in respecting them but with the backing of the supporters we are very, very hopeful we can do the club justice and also the people that are coming to watch us.”
‘Hammer blow’ of Considine’s absence
In the immediate aftermath of the first leg loss in Azerbaijan Glass slated the pitch as a ‘disgrace’ and insisted Considine’s injury was a direct result of the surface.
Glass said: “Andy had his surgery on Wednesday and has had his cruciate repaired.
“He is going to be out beyond Christmas.
“To lose a guy like Andy is a hammer blow to us and our season.
“We just hope he gets back as soon as he can.
“I spoke to him on Tuesday night when he was down there.
“He is in good spirits, good as can be expected.
“It is just important he gets the space now to acknowledge what has happened and we back him in his rehab.
“It should not be a season-ending injury, if that is the way of putting it.”
A great leader and a great player
Defender Considine is in the top five all time appearance list for the Dons and is the only player still at the club from the team that reached the UEFA Cup group stages in 2007.
Glass said: “Andy’s character is unbelievable.
“He is one of the best professionals I have ever seen in my time in football – which is 30 years or so.
“He is a great leader at this club, a great player and an example for the young players.
“You are going to miss that but it is important that everybody else picks up the slack and makes the loss as minimal as possible.
“You can’t under-estimate the loss of Andy to this club.”
Pitch to blame for Considine’s injury
Asked if Aberdeen had raised the issue of the poor pitch with UEFA, Glass said: “Before the game there was the question, but UEFA deemed it playable.”
Glass insists there is ‘no doubt’ Qarabag’s pitch was to blame for Considine’s injury.
However he does not apportion blame to the Azerbaijan club nor Jaime Romero who was involved in the innocuous challenge where Considine caught his studs in the turf.
He said: “I stand by my comments last week.
“I don’t think there is any doubt and every player who played on that will acknowledge that.
“There is zero blame attached to their player or club.”
Komandamız Aberdin şəhərinə çatdı. Bizi qarşılayan azarkeşlərimizə təşəkkür edirik!#QarabağFK #AberdeenQarabag #ConfrenceLeague pic.twitter.com/EtmUvzqW5Y
— Qarabağ FK (@FKQarabagh) August 24, 2021
Glass could sign defensive cover
Glass confirmed the absence of Considine will force him to sign defensive cover before the transfer window shuts at the end of the month.
Centre-back Mikey Devlin is also out injured leaving Scotland international Declan Gallagher and Ross McCrorie as the only fit senior players for that position.
Glass said: “It changes the need for centre back cover.
“Now you need somebody to come in and be a big part of what we are doing.”
A different game on Pittodrie pitch
Glass is anticipating a completely different game now that the second leg will be played on the Pittodrie surface.
He expects the Pittodrie pitch to benefit the passing game of both sides but is confident Aberdeen, driven by what is hoped will be a sell out crowd, will triumph.
On playing on the Pittodrie pitch, Glass laughed: “It might even look like a different sport.
“We will give Qarabag full respect in the knowledge that they will be better on this pitch than they were at home.
“However we will be better as well.
“I think it will be a very good game but we believe we can do it 100 per cent.
“It will suit both teams. Their manager is very good and has his team playing very attractive football.
“They couldn’t do that on their pitch either.
“Sometimes you go away in Europe and hear they are doing this to the pitch because it suits them.
“I don’t think there is any part of that.
“But I do think it will benefit them, and it will benefit us, and you will see a much more attractive game of football.
“There is going to be a good crowd there as well, we are looking forward to it.”
We can win, even if Qarabag play well
This is the eighth successive season for Aberdeen in Europe, the first in UEFA’S newly created third tier of continental club competition.
Aberdeen have failed to progress beyond the third qualifying round in the Europa League for seven straight years.
Not only is this a new tournament, Aberdeen are breaking new ground – and Glass intends to take it further by securing Euro action deep into December.
He said: “Going into the Hacken game we were hoping to still be in this position.
“We are in this position, it is do-able against a good team.
“We are not going into it thinking if the other team plays well we are done.
“We believe if Qarabag play well we still have an opportunity to win the game and that is important to us.”
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