Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin revealed he told his players to never give up as they trailed Dundee United 2-0 at half-time.
The Swede’s inspirational dressing room message at the break inspired the Dons to a dramatic fight-back to salvage a 2-2 draw.
Dundee United raced into a 2-0 lead via goals from Vicko Sevelj and Sam Dalby, leaving the Dons staring at a damaging loss in the race to finish third in the Premiership.
However Kevin Nisbet netted a late double with goals in the 75th and 91st minutes to salvage a draw.
Thelin says he is proud of his players for showing character to battle back from the brink in the New Firm derby.
And the Reds boss insists that fight will be vital in the race to finish third in the Premiership which secures a Europa League second qualifying round spot.
Thelin said: “At half-time we talked about what we need to do now and never give in.
“How we never give up and use the crowd we have here, the atmosphere at Pittodrie.
“We talked about the way the fans and players can come together and push into the second half of the game.
“How we could even push to get a winning goal.
“We never stopped believing.
“I’m so proud of the character the team showed.
“It is going to be so important to have this spirit and this character within the team for the rest of the season.”
Aberdeen sit fourth in the Premiership table, one point behind third-placed Hibs who leapfrogged Thelin’s side courtesy of a 2-1 win against Hearts.
Thelin hails double goal hero Nisbet
Scotland international Nisbet was the goal hero when netting a sensational strike to make it 2-1 and then firing in the leveller late on.
On loan from English Championship Millwall until the end of the season, Nisbet has now netted four in the last five matches.
The 27-year-old is on nine goals for the season.
Thelin said: “I am really happy for Kevin and he is important for us.
“We’re not so happy with the result but when you go two down in the first half, you also have to take the positive things that you can.
“I think it’s an important point today.
“And after how the game was in the first half and our reaction to that it says a lot about the team.”
The Dons had 72.6% possession and mustered 20 shots at goal.
Aberdeen dominated possession
However only two of those shots were on target, and both scored by Nisbet.
Thelin said: “I think it’s always difficult when you look at statistics, you show something but not everything.
“The situation is what it is.
“But then we have to still get the shot away or the last pass.
“There’s a lot of situations in the box that they also do well, they block some shots and Dundee United were good defending in their box,”
Aberdeen suffered an injury blow when centre-back Kristers Tobers limped off late in the first-half to be replaced by Alfie Dorrington.
Latvian international Tobers was secured in a £600,000 January transfer window deal from Swiss club Grasshoppers.
Injury sweat on defender Tobers
Thelin now faces an injury sweat on Tobers ahead of the Scottish Cup quarter-final clash with Queen’s Park at Pittodrie on Saturday.
On Tobers, Thelin said: “Let’s see.
“It’s something there, we don’t know exactly what.
“He felt something last game (5-1 loss to Celtic) but we couldn’t find anything.
“But let’s see now how he recover and we will get the assessment later in the week.”
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