Delighted Jamie McGrath admits Aberdeen knew they had to kick on from running recent Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt all the way as the Dons picked up their first Scottish Premiership win of the season on Sunday.
Barry Robson's side netted four goals without reply against Ross County at Pittodrie, with McGrath scoring his first goal for the club to cap off an impressive individual display. Bojan Miovski also registered a brace, while Luis 'Duk' Lopes finally got his campaign up and running by getting off the mark too.
Aberdeen were winless in the league prior to the impressive victory over the Staggies and McGrath confessed that their spirited Europa Conference League Group G opener versus Bundesliga giants Eintracht Frankfurt just three days prior, gave them belief that they could kick start their season and start climbing the domestic table. He stated: “That was the goal before the start of the day to come away with three points. We knew how important it was to back-up our performance in Germany. We all came to an agreement on Thursday that we needed to kickstart our season on Sunday. It was pleasing to get the three points and a clean sheet.”
McGrath has perhaps spent too much time around boss Robson as he echoed a familiar sentiment by declaring that they can't get carried away and that they need to back up that dominant showing by booking a place in the Viaplay Cup semi-final when they meet Ross County once again, up in Dingwall on Wednesday.
“We can’t get too ahead of ourselves," continued the 26-year-old. "It was a well-worked goal. It was brilliant for Bojan to square it to me and it put the game to bed. At home we are expected to win and the demands of the club are of that. We can’t get too carried away. We put on a good performance but Wednesday will be very difficult. It is always difficult playing the same team back-to-back. The chance to play at Hampden is one we don’t want to pass up. We have to recover well and get ready to go for Wednesday.”
READ MORE: Aberdeen 4 Ross County 0: Instant reaction to the burning issues
The Irishman, who was signed on a free transfer after leaving Wigan Athletic this summer, has been a pivotal figure in Robson's starting XI. And his understanding with strike duo Miovski and Duk appears to be strengthening game by game. McGrath hailed Duk for calmly slotting in Aberdeen's second during the rout to end a 14-game goal drought. He was immediately greeted by his elated teammates, who surrounded him to celebrate his long overdue landmark.
He claimed: “You have seen at times how important they can be. On the counter they look strong and are good at holding up play. As a midfielder, that is all you want. You saw that today with them supplying for each other and Bojan supplying for me as well. I am really happy for Duk to get that first goal and you can see the difference it made in his overall play. I thought he was outstanding.He works his socks off every day and if you do that you eventually get your luck. It is the same with Bojan. We are delighted with him; he is in a rich vein of form at the minute. Hopefully, he can keep that going.”
Meanwhile, Ross County captain Jack Baldwin believes there's a perfect opportunity for the Staggies to make immediate amends and re-install some pride back when they host Aberdeen at The Global Energy Stadium.
He confessed: “After a game like that you kind of hope you have a game in the midweek to recover as quickly as possible, rather than having to wait for the full week until next Saturday. It is going to be another tough game. They are a top team and a top bunch of professionals and it is a chance for us to dust ourselves down and try to bring some pride back.
"There is a big carrot dangling there for everybody. There is a big chance there for a lot of the lads who haven’t played at the national stadium to play there. It is a huge opportunity to put things right and to look forward to a possible semi-final. Like I said, we’ve had a relatively good start in the league and the sooner we can put Sunday to bed the better.”
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