Aberdeen midfielder Funso Ojo admitted he struggled to get over the part he played in the Dons’ Europa League exit.
With Derek McInnes’ side trailing 2-0 against Rijeka from the first leg, the tie was over when the Dons conceded only 10 minutes into the return leg at Pittodrie before Ojo saw red for a second bookable offence in the 20th minute.
The Croatians scored again as they eased to a 4-0 aggregate win and the former PSV Eindhoven player, a summer signing from Scunthorpe United, felt crushed with the role he had played in his side’s downfall.
He said: “I was a bit embarrassed, ashamed and angry.
“It is not something you can turn back when you play in Europe.
“If it happens in the league then we have games after it to fix it but this time we were out of Europe.
“We wanted to achieve success in Europe and I felt like I was the main downfall in us being out.
“I have to say that really hurt.
“The first booking was after four minutes and I was very surprised when the ref then showed me a second yellow.
“They were both fouls and there was no VAR so you have to accept the referee’s decision.
“I had to stay and watch the game from the dressing room and that was hard seeing 10 of my team mates having to work really hard and I couldn’t do anything to help them. That didn’t make me feel any better!
“Up until Saturday evening, the day before the Dundee game I was still down about it.
“I had conversations with people at the club and people out with football, within my group, and you to try and get over disappointments.
“You can’t take them to the next game because if you do you will play badly and probably get even more bookings because you are afraid.
“I do think I took too long, until the Saturday, to get over it but it was my first red card of my career and that was something that was new to me.
“For the first few days after it you don’t really want to go on the pitch.
“Well you want to get on the pitch but you are more careful and cautious in what you are doing.”
The Dons responded to their Europa League exit with a Betfred Cup victory against Dundee, although they were made to work hard for the win against the Championship side with Andy Considine netting in injury time to send the game into extra time when Sam Cosgrove scored the winner.
Ojo hopes to get another win today when his side travel to bottom of the league Kilmarnock, who have lost both of their opening matches.
He said: “It was good to get the win against Dundee, although not the way it happened but a win is a win.
“It was hard because a lot of the players had played a lot of minutes on the Thursday and a lot of the time they were chasing after the ball, in tough conditions.
“So there was a lot of tiredness at Dundee but after going behind the reaction from the team was very good.
“I felt a lot more tired after that game but I definitely felt a lot better than I did against Riejka.”
