Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie has warned there can be no cup hangover as his side bid to put their League Cup final loss behind them.
The Dons’ cup final hopes were sunk by a 1-0 loss to Rangers at Hampden on Sunday as James Tavernier’s late goal left Barry Robson’s side crestfallen at the national stadium.
The pain of defeat was etched on the faces of the Aberdeen players at full-time and Shinnie has urged his team-mates to use their final loss as motivation for the remainder of the campaign.
The Dons captain said: “I told the boys after the game we need to use the hurt as fuel for the rest of the season.
“We can’t afford any sort of hangover, we need to turn our league season around.
“We need to use Sunday’s game to drive us on.
“For a lot of the boys it’s their first cup final in Scotland, so dealing with losing it is a new experience for them.
“It hurt on Sunday, but we have to digest it, forget about it and move on.”
Aberdeen seeking league momentum
The Aberdeen captain is relieved to have a league match on Wednesday to focus on following the Hampden heartache.
Bottom club Livingston visit Pittodrie, and Shinnie knows it is vital his side bounce back and pick up points between now and the winter break as they look to move up the table from 10th place.
He said: “There is a long way to go, we have a lot of league games and there’s also the Scottish Cup to go for.
“The league is where we are focused now, so it’s a good thing to be playing again on Wednesday.
“In football it’s always a good thing when you have a game quickly after a defeat because it’s a chance to get going again.
“We need to put a run together now, put the league form right and start climbing up the table.
“We had a good result in Hearts in the league, so we need to build on that, get some momentum and get up the league.”
‘This season has been gruelling’
A run to the cup final and the demands of European competition have taken their toll on Robson’s side this season.
The Aberdeen captain believes the schedule has been a challenging one for him and his team-mates so far – but Shinnie is hungry for more European action next season.
To do that, however, he knows it is vital the Dons put a winning run together.
The midfielder said: “We went on a great run last season to get up to third so of course we believe we can do it again.
“We have had some poor games this season, we’re not going to lie – but we have also had some good performances as well.
“We know what we’ve got in the squad and the quality we’ve got.
“But there has been enough talking now. We have to start doing it on the pitch and pick up.
“This season has been gruelling, to be honest.
“It has been tough, one of the toughest I’ve had in football.
“We have done a lot of travelling and had a lot of big games – but that’s what it’s like when you’re at the level of playing in European group stages and cup finals.
“It comes thick and fast and you have to deal with it.
“It has been tougher than playing down south because in the European games – you put so much into them.
“But that’s what you want to be doing as a club, so we have to get used to it and learn how to deal with it.
“Now we have a run of league games we need to win to get to where we want to in the table.”
Dons turn attention to climbing the table
The focus is now firmly on the league, but there is a real sense of what might have been at Pittodrie following their cup final loss.
Dons goalkeeper Kelle Roos helped snuff out the threat of the Ibrox side before Tavernier’s late winner.
Meanwhile, the Dons had opportunities, but failed to turn them into a meaningful effort at Gers goalkeeper Jack Butland.
Shinnie said: “It was gutting. It wasn’t a great quality of game – it certainly felt like that playing in it, so I expect it was the same watching it.
“Both teams cancelled each other out and it felt in the game like one goal would take it either way.
“Unfortunately for us, Rangers got it and we didn’t.
“Was the game panning out the way we hoped? Not really – we needed to be better on the ball.
“In the first half, we had a few counter-attacks that if we’d been better with our passing when three-v-two or whatever, then we could have hurt them.
“But we misplaced a few passes and didn’t do enough in the game to win it.
“We let them off the hook a few times in the transitions.
“There were times it would have been one pass to break into those areas, but we didn’t do it and we paid the price for it.
“It was a scrappy game, a typical cup final where nobody really went out and grabbed it.
“One goal was always going to win it the way it panned out.
“We’re just gutted the goal went against us when it came.”
Conversation