DEREK McInnes believes Aberdeen are good enough to score a precious away goal at Burnley and insisted their Europa League tie was far from over.
The English Premier League side will be favourites to go through after the 1-1 but this was a good night for Scottish football and the men from Pittodrie who more than matched their English opponents.
“We are still in the tie, we will go there with a chance,” said McInnes. “I feel we can go there and score, we created enough chances here. The onus is on us to score, if we can do that then it’s game on.
Read more: Steven Gerrard delighted with 'selfless' showing from Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos
“We have scored and won high-pressure games in the past. I have players who have the mentality to go there and do what we need to do. I know we are a good team, I know our capabilities.
“You saw Aberdeen in its full splendour tonight, with a great display for a great man (Neale Cooper). We showed we were a good team – but I knew we would - we didn’t have to convince anyone of that.
“What people think of Scottish football up to them, I don’t care about that really. I don’t feel we have to change anyone’s perceptions.”
McInnes highlighted the difficulties he faces compared to managers of even small English clubs in the top two leagues.
He said: “Sam Cosgrove cost twenty grand from Carlisle but he was up against an England international and did brilliantly. Lewis Ferguson is 19, he played a dozen games for Hamilton.
“There is no difference between Aberdeen and Burnley other than the league they operate in. Finances are what dictates and until TV companies give us that money that won’t change.
“But this is a tie we can win.”
Read more: Steven Thompson: Is Odsonne Edouard ready to be the main man for Celtic?
Sean Dyche, the Burnley manager, wasn’t happy with Aberdeen’s penalty but he enjoyed the night as a whole.
He said: “Because of the way the game panned out, I’m happy enough with the late goal and a draw.
“I won’t take anything away from Aberdeen who made it a proper game, both sets of fans were excellent, atmosphere was great and it felt like a real match, so credit Aberdeen with that. The penalty changed it. I would need to see it again but we don’t get them. That’s a year without a penalty.
“We don’t think it’s a done deal. We are not a team that takes anything for granted. We will have to work for everything. Aberdeen were good, hard working and well organised.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here