Aberdeen boss Stephen Glass has slated Qarabag’s shocking pitch as a disgrace and blamed the surface for the injury to Andy Considine that saw the defender stretchered off.
Considine suffered the injury in the 10th minute of the 1-0 Europa Conference League play-off first leg defeat in Baku.
Glass now faces a sweat on the defender’s fitness with Considine’s knee injury set to be assessed fully when the Reds return to the Granite City.
Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack had criticised the pitch on the eve of the game and questioned why UEFA sanctioned the surface for a Euro tie.
Despite the appalling surface and heat in excess of 30 degrees the Reds bid to qualify for the group stages of Europe for the first time since 2007 remains alive.
Glass hailed his squad as ‘exceptional’ for overcoming testing conditions to set up a massive return leg at Pittodrie next Thursday.
Glass said: “Anyone who watched the game could see the pitch was a disgrace and it didn’t suit either team.
“Andy actually got injured because of the pitch and it was absolutely shocking for an event like this.
“It (the pitch) is also not an excuse for the result.
“I got asked about the pitch before the game and I didn’t want to talk about it because it looks like you are looking for an excuse. I didn’t want to put that in the players’ heads.”
How @UEFA can sanction a pitch like this is beyond the pale… the top cutting up immediately you play on it. And here in Baku they have this beautiful new stadium just up the road! Maybe we should play the return leg at Inverdee! pic.twitter.com/SLsJaLaMn8
— Dave Cormack (@CormackDavie) August 18, 2021
Considine to be assessed in Aberdeen
Considine suffered the injury early in the tie when his studs became stuck in the rutted pitch following a challenge from Jaime Romero.
Glass expects the defender to miss the Premiership trip to Hearts on Sunday and hopes it does not result in a long term absence for Considine.
He said: “It didn’t look great.
“He hurt his knee and when you do it on a pitch like that you never know what is going on.
“It wasn’t the actual challenge but more the pitch.
“I am always hopeful but it is hard until we get home.“I would gamble he will not be fit for the weekend (at Hearts on Sunday), for sure, but we are hoping it is not a long-term thing. ”
Fight, effort and desire were exceptional
Aberdeen were up against a Qarbag side with an established pedigree of qualifying for the group stages in European competition.
The Azerbaijan outfit have qualified for the Euro group stages for each of the last seven years- once in the Champions League and six times in the Europa League.
Glass hailed his squad’s ‘fight, effort and desire’ to ensure the Reds have a great opportunity to progress to the group stages at what is likely to be an 18,000 sell out Pittodrie on Thursday.
He said: “I said to the players after the game that an average team would probably have got beaten 3-0 or 4-0.
“The fight, effort and desire from our players was exceptional.
“The worst thing we wanted was to make sure the match was still alive coming back to Pittodrie on Thursday.
“We faced a good Qarabag team and we dealt with the conditions and them well.
“We stayed in it in the second half and we still carried a threat.
“The heat was difficult and we saw that even in the warm-up.
“We showed we could mix it last night and that was important.
“We should carry more of a threat at home because we should be able to pass it. ”
🔴 A massive night awaits at Pittodrie.#COYR! #StandFree pic.twitter.com/UocIQkw5Rq
— Aberdeen FC (@AberdeenFC) August 19, 2021
All set for a memorable Euro Pittodrie tie
The narrow defeat has now set up one of the biggest European nights at Pittodrie for 20 years – and Glass is confident they can finish the job at home to reach the groups.
He said: “The effort we put in was to take it back at a minimum of 1-0.
“If we had scored a goal then brilliant.
“We know we have a team capable of winning at home.
“Qarabag are also a really good team and I am sure the fans will see a really good game next week.
“With the confidence we are playing with at home then it will be a big night for us.”
Frustration with officials in Baku
On top of the difficult conditions with the pitch and heat the Dons also had to contend with frustrating decisions from Slovenian referee Rade Obrenovic with Glass booked.
Midfielder Lewis Ferguson in particular the victim of constant fouling with little action taken by the whistler.
Glass said: “Lewis got absolutely smashed and had to come off the pitch but the rule is when a player is booked then the other player doesn’t have to come off the pitch.
“It took so long because our player got smashed and they got rewarded for smashing a player.
“It felt at times we weren’t getting the rub of the green but we are just happy to keep it alive and next Thursday hopefully we can get a different outcome.”