Aberdeen defender Andrew Considine believes finishing second in the Scottish Premiership behind favourites Celtic will help his side get over their League Cup disappointment.
The Dons’ hopes of retaining the League Cup ended on Saturday with a 2-1 defeat by New Firm rivals Dundee United.
Debutant Donervorn Daniels had headed the Dons in front, but goals from Callum Morris and Nadir Ciftci earned United a place in the final against Celtic on March 15.
With the Dons already out of the Scottish Cup following defeat to United’s city rivals Dundee, Considine says only a successful league campaign can make up for failing to reach a final this season.
He said: “It is massive. We will come back to training first thing on Monday morning, try to brush this aside and crack on with the league.
“It is hugely important for us to try to grab that second spot. Knowing how it felt to win the League Cup last year and what it meant to the city, it was a fantastic occasion so it is a really sore one to take.
“I felt we were the better team in terms of creating chances, but we just didn’t manage to take them. It came back to bite us in the end as I felt we kept their flair players at bay.
“The pitch wasn’t the best, it did give way quite a lot, but it was the same for both teams so we can’t use that as an excuse. We are just disappointed we didn’t manage to come away with the result.”
Considine admitted the cheap nature of both of United’s goals further added to the disappointment. The Dons had not conceded a goal in the League Cup for 825 days but the Aberdeen defender accepted both United’s goals were preventable. He added: “The manner of the goals was disappointing. United have scored a lot of goals this year from open play and I felt we managed to snuff them out. I haven’t seen the goals again and I don’t know if the second one was offside, but they weren’t great goals to lose. We haven’t conceded many from corners this season so it was disappointing.”