Aberdeen vice-captain Graeme Shinnie has warned Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha the Dons will be even stronger next season.
The Portuguese manager claimed the current Aberdeen team are near the end of their successful cycle and will need to make several changes over the summer in order to remain a force next term.
Those ill-conceived pre-match comments only served to motivate Derek McInnes’ side as they claimed a first victory at Ibrox since 1991 with a 2-1 win on Wednesday.
The result ensured the Dons achieved a third successive runners-up finish in the Scottish Premiership and Shinnie, who opened the scoring against the Gers, says his side aren’t going anywhere.
He said: “Football is all about opinions, everybody has them, but we don’t let that come into the dressing room.
“We just stick together as our team spirit is brilliant.
“Everyone has seen the job the manager has done here every season.
“There will be a couple of players leaving at the end of the season and there is one (Greg Tansey) already set to come in.
“We will build on the squad and strengthen.
“We will come back for pre-season, enjoy the European games and look to start the league again.
“But I think everyone has seen over the course of the season that we deserve to be second.
“That is down to the hard work from the team and the management.
“It has been a good season.”
Shinnie was thrilled to be part of the first Aberdeen team to win at Ibrox for 26 years but sensed before the match that the Light Blues were there for the taking.
He added: “I felt we had a good chance.
“We played really well the last time we went to Ibrox but lost 2-1.
“We were bitterly disappointed with the way it ended at Pittodrie in the 3-0 defeat.
“We played well and deserved better than we got.
“We knew if we played to the top of our game we could get something.
“I wasn’t surprised we were so dominant.
“We are second in the league for a reason and we wanted to go out and show that.
“We were disappointed to not be more than 2-0 up.
“Conceding the goal gave them some momentum and allowed the crowd to come into it a bit more.
“They put pressure on us but we still created opportunities and were delighted to get the win.”
