Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes has warned one good 90 minute performance will not be enough to take his side through to the second qualifying round of the Europa League.
The Dons face a more testing 90 minutes than they perhaps anticipated after conceding a late goal in their 2-1 first leg win against RoPS at Pittodrie last week.
The Aberdeen boss is frustrated his side’s lead is not more comfortable than the slender one-goal advantage they hold and he knows the away goal will embolden the Finnish club in front of their home support tonight (5pm).
That is why he is demanding another strong display from his side which dominated but failed to turn their chances into goals a week ago.
He said: “One performance in a two-legged affair doesn’t cut it and we feel we need a second performance. The goal hasn’t changed how I’ll set my team out. I’ll still pick a team to win this game.
“If you pick the bones from the game the late goal was the one real negative. The performance level was very good, very strong considering we’ve only had three and half weeks’ preparation.
“The performance level was good and you could see Rovaniemi are a possession-based team of quality.
“The goal keeps the tie alive for them and I think we were rueing the fact we didn’t score more, but the fact RoPS have scored keeps the tie alive.”
The Dons have travelled without Craig Bryson, who is nursing an ankle injury, the ineligible Funso Ojo and Mikey Devlin, who has a hamstring strain, but McInnes believes his side will be sharper and a bigger threat tonight.
He said: “We’re light in midfield. Bryson hasn’t travelled and won’t be fit for another week or so. Ojo will be available for the next game if we get through. But in terms of the wide areas and attacking threats we’re well covered.
“Mikey Devlin has not travelled. He damaged his hamstring yesterday so we’ve left him in Aberdeen. Greg Leigh has travelled but is still a doubt.
“Whoever plays will want to do well and we see the importance of trying to have a Europa League run this year.
“It’s too early to make any real judgements good or bad. I was happy with our use of the ball from back to front, we were patient when we needed to be and hunted the ball well when we had to.
“Having 33 shots on goal tells you how we played but anyone will tell you it’s the last bit to come at this stage of the season.
“We feel having had another week’s training and 90 minutes in our legs, which no amount
of training can replicate, we’ll be stronger and better.”
• The Dons will head to Georgia if they progress this evening to face Chikhura after they defeated Fola Esch 2-1 last night to progress 4-2 on aggregate.
