Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes is confident his players will handle the pressure of trying to finish second in the Scottish Premiership this season.
Adam Rooney’s goal 13 minutes from time earned the Dons a share of the spoils in Tuesday’s 1-1 draw against Ross County at Victoria Park.
The Reds created several chances and hit the woodwork three times in a superb match, but could have lost the game but for some fine saves from goalkeeper Jamie Langfield after an uncharacteristically poor defensive display.
McInnes was frustrated not to take all three points as the Dons’ three-game winning run in the league was halted and with Dundee United due to visit Pittodrie on Saturday the manager is looking for more from his side.
He said: “A lot of teams can win a cup but maybe not have the best of league campaigns.
“It would be an even better achievement if we can have a strong league campaign as well on top of the cup. Finishing second would be a huge improvement.
“We should be in the mix for honours at the top end of the table.
“We have good players here. There has to be a certain type of player to be able to handle the pressure that comes with playing for this club but we have that here. Our team doesn’t like losing games and the players showed that against Ross County, but there are a lot of good teams around us and there is a lot still to be done.”
McInnes admitted to be frustrated his side failed to take all three points from its game against the Staggies after Rooney’s eighth goal in 11 appearances cancelled out Melvin de Leeuw’s first-half header for County.
He said: “Ross County’s need for points was the same as ours and we had to work hard to get the point.
“We hit the woodwork three times and created so many chances to win the game, but we allowed them to get the first goal which gave them something to hang on to.
“The second half was how we’ve been all season and if we can produce that level of performance consistently we will be there or thereabouts come the end. When we pick up the pace and go at teams we are hard to handle.
“Even with being down to 10 men after Andy Considine’s sending off we were still trying to win the game and had there been another five minutes to go I believe we would have got a winning goal.”