Derek McInnes was well-versed in dealing with the demands of a European trip and he would not have it any other way.
Aberdeen returned from their trip to Lisbon in the early hours of yesterday morning, on the back of a creditable-yet-frustrating 1-0 defeat.
There will be limited turnaround time and players that will inevitably need rest after a testing 90 minutes against accomplished continental opposition.
A trip to Ross County tomorrow has to sharpen the minds back on the business of domestic matters. Less than 72 hours will have elapsed between the two games but McInnes has to manage his squad for both endeavours.
He said: “When you are in Europe there is more strain on the squad. Last weekend, losing Scott McKenna and not being able to play Tommie Hoban contributed to the cheapness of the goals we lost to Motherwell.
“But playing in Europe is important so you wouldn’t have it any other way. Now it’s back to focusing on domestic football, we need to regroup and refocus – and try to get back to winning ways.
“We didn’t get back until about half four, so it was a case of getting the players some rest and then going again. The vast majority of the squad have been in this position before, they know the demands European football puts on them when they come back to play league games.
“So we will manage it, we’ll look at the players on Saturday and then make our minds up what we’re going to do for County.”
McInnes does have options to freshen the squad up. Scott Wright, Connor McLennan and Ryan Edmondson were all second-half substitutes against Sporting and could be drafted in. Funso Ojo, Ronald Hernandez and Niall McGinn did not make it off the bench while Dean Campbell was not in the 18 altogether.
A trip to Dingwall will present the opportunity to eradicate the aberration of the Motherwell game last weekend. Three first-half goals and a shoddy defensive display brought their impressive run of six wins on the bounce to a juddering halt.
The Staggies, meanwhile, have endured their own rocky early-season blip. After impressing with two wins out the gate, against Hamilton Accies and Motherwell, they went five games without a win prior to the 1-0 victory against St Johnstone seven days ago.
McInnes added: “A lot of teams this season will go on runs, I think that will be a theme of this season because there isn’t much between so many of the sides. Ross County started well, had a little dip and they are coming back out of that again.
“Even in the Celtic game they played very well, despite what the scoreline said, and I like what they’ve done up there. They have recruited well, they have a good manager and I expect them to be competitive this season.
“We have two games before the international break now and we’d love to go into it with six points. If we can do that, then we can be very happy with what we’ve produced in the last while.
“I am pleased with a lot of what we’ve done lately – the Motherwell game aside – and I think the players deserve credit.”