Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes dedicated victory in Europe to supporters who were attacked in a bar in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday.
New signings Greg Stewart and Gary Mackay-Steven scored their first goals for the club in the 2-0 win at Pecara Stadium which gave Aberdeen a 3-1 aggregate win against NK Siroki Brijeg.
The Dons will face Apollon Limassol of Cyprus, who won 2-1 at Zaria Balti in Moldova to complete a 5-1 aggregate victory last night. The first leg will be at Pittodrie on Thursday.
Dons supporters were attacked in a bar in Mostar on the eve of the game and McInnes hopes it will not deter them from following the team to Cyprus next month.
He said: “The incident on Wednesday night was disappointing and I don’t think it is anything to do with Siroki Brijeg.
“They were totally innocent on all this but thankfully no one was seriously hurt and it won’t put too many off from going to Cyprus.
“We met a lot of supporters in the town this morning and they told us about the incident. It wasn’t nice to hear, but hopefully us winning the game helps make their trip worthwhile.”
McInnes had little time to savour the result as his thoughts immediately turned to next week’s first leg against Apollon Limassol at Pittodrie.
He said: “I’ve got games to watch on the laptop on the way home and we’ll get a handle on them. This time tomorrow we’ll know the level of team we’re up against, but it will be difficult. Again, we’ll be better for having played tonight and we’ll be ready for the challenge.
“Having Kari Arnason available will be important as well. He’ll get a game on Sunday at Brechin along with the players who need some game time.”
Stewart was delighted to open his account for the club with the crucial first goal.
The on loan Birmingham City attacker said: “It’s not often I score right-footed goals so I’ll take that.
“We knew we would be fitter and stronger after last week and it was important we did to them what they did to us in the first game. We kept the ball much better in the second half and tired them out and it paid off in the end with the two goals which I think we deserved.”
Siroki Brijeg head coach Goran Sablic believes his team ran out of steam.
Sablic said: “The second half was tough and from 60 minutes on Aberdeen took control of the match.
“I’d like to congratulate my team on how well they played in the first half, but Aberdeen were stronger than us overall. We’re going to be much better domestically because of games like this. We didn’t take our chances against an experienced team.”