Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes insists there will be no hangover for his weary Dons this weekend as they bid to secure a place in the last four of the Scottish Cup in a quarter-final tie at St Mirren.
The Dons suffered their fourth home defeat in a row last Saturday as they were beaten 2-1 by Ross County at Pittodrie.
But a defiant McInnes said: “We won’t let it derail our form.
“There has been an upturn in fortune in the last few games, the performance levels have been good. Out here against Celtic last week was a big performance and we had a big result during the week.
“We do need to manage our training this week and make sure we are ready for St Mirren.”
Saturday’s defeat, coupled with Motherwell’s draw with Hamilton, means the Steelmen move above the Dons into third place in the Premiership.
But McInnes believes the effects of 90 minutes against Celtic, followed by 120 minutes at Kilmarnock in the fifth-round replay, allied to Dean Campbell’s dismissal after 30 minutes on Saturday, were major contributory factors.
He said: “When Ross County were playing St Johnstone last Saturday we have since played 90-odd minutes against the champions and 120 minutes down at Kilmarnock, travelled back up got to our beds at 3am.
“We had two pretty full-on games since County played and I knew the fatigue side of it would be an issue and the last thing we needed was to go down to 10 men.
“We can’t hide. It was a game we set out to win and we knew the energy and physical part of the game would be an issue.
‘We tried to freshen up a few areas. We always knew we would bring the subs on earlier but it is hard to maintain those levels with 10 men.
“Hopefully Funso Ojo and Craig Bryson will be back.
“Certainly Ojo. We will be fresher and more equipped to deal with the game. Bryson tweaked his groin a wee bit and there is a bit of swelling on his ankle from the Astroturf.”
Campbell’s dismissal for stopping a free kick being taken was as needless as it was costly for the Dons and, while he has a degree of sympathy for the teenager, McInnes believes Campbell has learned a valuable lesson.
He said: “It is a learning curve for wee Dean although I do think there was a bit of inconsistency there.
“The first one is a yellow card for stopping a promising attack, although normally you get booked when it is in your own half and you really are stopping a promising attack.
“Once Dean has got the yellow card he should have been keeping his nose clean. I think what Dean has done, you see every week.
“It was very harsh on him but once he has been carded he has to watch what he is doing. It doesn’t matter if you are 18 or 36.”