Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes wants his players to use the pain of past cup defeats as inspiration when they travel to Hearts in the Scottish Cup on Saturday.
The Dons were handed the toughest tie in the fourth round when they were drawn away to the Jambos with the televised tie matching the Premiership’s second and third-placed teams.
The Dons won the League Cup in March 2014, but McInnes remembers the losses just as much as his first trophy as Aberdeen manager.
Aberdeen missed out on another cup final in 2014 when they lost to St Johnstone in the Scottish Cup semi-final before suffering at the penultimate stage again last year when they lost to Dundee United in the League Cup.
The scars of those defeats are still felt by the Aberdeen manager and he hopes the disappointment will fuel his players’ resolve at Tynecastle.
The Dons are already out of the Leahue Cup following defeat at the hands of Championship club Hibs and McInnes said: “We’ve had a couple of semi-finals since winning the League Cup which have probably been the biggest disappointments.
“The Scottish Cup semi-final against St Johnstone was disappointing, while a few things went against us when we played Dundee United in the League Cup.
“Any team can dominate games but in cup competitions it’s all about winning. That will be the only thing which matters when we play Hearts.”
Aberdeen supporters have bought the club’s 3,400 allocation for the trip and McInnes is delighted his players will be able to count on such strong backing against Robbie Neilson’s side.
He said: “There is a good relationship between the players and the supporters which, for me, is vitally important.
“The players appreciate the backing they get and it is important we try to keep them with us as we are stronger together.
“We have stability about our squad and level of player who have character which has served us well in the last two and a half seasons.
“We’ve got some very good players and we are aiming to make them even better.
“We have plenty to look forward to at this club and hopefully we can have another successful campaign.
“To improve on the league points tally this season will be tough, but it is not beyond us and any Aberdeen team should be aiming to reach a cup final.
“We only have one cup left to play for and we’ll be giving everything to get to Hampden this season.”