Breidablik boss Oskar Hrafn Thorvaldsson has claimed Aberdeen’s Scott Brown and Joe Lewis attempted to barge into his side’s dressing room following the Europa Conference League tie at Pittodrie.
In an astonishing outburst Thorvaldsson labelled Brown ‘an acclaimed bully’ and accused the Dons skipper and keeper Lewis of yelling ‘disrespectful and ugly comments’.
There is no mention of the alleged incident in the referee’s post match report.
Aberdeen beat Breidablik 2-1 on the night to progress 5-3 on aggregate to set up a play-off clash with Qarabag of Azerbaijan.
Prior to the clash Thorvaldsson had made disrespectful comments about the style of Aberdeen’s play in the Dons’ 3-2 first leg win in Iceland.
The Breidablik boss claims Brown and Lewis were angered by his post match comments following the tie in Reykjavic and that midfielder Brown tried to ‘abuse’ his players.
Dons boss Stephen Glass refused to get dragged into a war or words in the build up to the Pittodrie clash despite Thorvaldsson’s comments after the first leg.
Aberdeen remain tight-lipped over Thorvaldsson’s accusations and insist the club would rather focus on the next game against Qarabag rather than be drawn into a tit for tat battle.
Thorvaldsson said: “They came to our locker room, yelled some very ugly and disrespectful comments.
“They were really annoyed about my comments but behaving like that is childish.
“I might have been a bit harsh with my comments but Aberdeen’s players are grown-ups.
“I am not really surprised about Scott Brown.
“He is, after all, one of the most acclaimed bullies.
“I am not surprised at that, but I am surprised about the 33-year-old goalkeeper behaving like a five-year-old.
“Scott Brown can say what he wants, but he can’t try and come into our locker room and try to abuse our players.”
Praise for game-changers Hedges and Ojo
Despite his accusations Thorvaldsson admitted Aberdeen deserved to progress to the play-offs.
He highlighted double goal hero Ryan Hedges and half-time substitute Funso Ojo, who set up the opener, as the main difference between the teams at Pittodrie.
Thorvaldsson said: “I am disappointed that we couldn’t get the result we needed but the individual qualities of Ryan Hedges and Funso Ojo won the game for Aberdeen.
“We have to acknowledge the brilliant individual performances of those two players and respect that.
“We could have gone ahead if we had taken our chance and it would have made it an interesting final 20 minutes.
“I am very proud of my team and the way they played over the two matches.
“I can’t really complain that Aberdeen went through.”
This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.