Aberdeen can travel to Turf Moor with real belief that they can progress past Burnley in the Europa League.
With the away goal scored at Pittodrie in the 1-1 draw Burnley are favourites, but I wouldn’t discount the Dons on the back of their first leg performance.
Derek McInnes’ Reds are very much still in this tie and have a chance to progress to the third qualifying round.
Aberdeen need to score in the second leg at Turf Moor, but I expect them to go in with a game plan of being defensively organised and solid.
If the Reds can keep a clean sheet they only need to score one goal to progress and that can come at any time in the tie at Turf Moor.
I think Aberdeen will play that long game to stay in the match for as long as they possibly can and hope Burnley get a little nervous.
The Dons could then take an opportunity hitting on the break that could see them go through from the tie.
Aberdeen can face the English Premier League Clarets with a lot of heart and confidence after coming through a big test in the first leg with flying colours.
Turf Moor will be an even bigger test.
However, Aberdeen travelled to Celtic Park in the final Premiership game of last season and secured a 1-0 win against the league champions.
To progress to the next round the Dons will have to produce a performance on the same level, or possibly even better, than the one that defeated Celtic.
The Battle of Britain is an opportunity to lay down a marker that all is well in the Scottish game.
I was in the Aberdeen team that landed a blow for Scottish football in 1981 by knocking Bobby Robson’s UEFA Cup holders Ipswich out of the tournament with a 4-1 aggregate victory.
Rangers, Hibs and Celtic all won their European ties last week.
When you add in the Dons drawing against a side that finished seventh in the English top flight, it was four good results for Scottish teams.
Aberdeen played their part in proving that the Premiership in Scotland is a very decent league with some good teams.
Our top four teams equipped themselves well in Europe, which is something we have not been able to say for a number of years.
It tells us that the game is in good shape up here in Scotland.
Against Burnley at Pittodrie the Dons carried a threat, particularly on the counter attack.
Getting the early goal through a converted penalty from Gary Mackay-Steven seemed to give them confidence.
Aberdeen edged the first half and looked the more likely to score.
However, in the second period it was a different game as the Clarets got themselves sorted and upped the gear a bit.
Sean Dyche’s side controlled the second half.
However, despite that Aberdeen still threatened on the break and had good chances.
That will surely give them belief and confidence ahead of the return tie this week.
Aberdeen handed European debuts to six players but still held their own against Burnley.
Striker Sam Cosgrove did extremely well leading the line.
Teenage midfielder Lewis Ferguson may be just 18 but he put in a very solid performance.
New signing Tommie Hoban did particularly well considering he made his debut on the day after arriving on loan from Watford.
There was little time for the defender to work with team mates in training sessions or get bedded in.
He was thrown in and it was a case of perform or go under. He certainly performed on the night.
Left-back is not Hoban’s first position as he prefers centre-back.
To come in and put in that shift after a short time at the club deserves real credit.
It gives a lot of hope he will play a major role for Aberdeen in the season to come.
This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.
