Aberdeen manager Stephen Glass has vowed to build a team which can handle the demands he places on them after watching his side crash out of the Scottish Cup yesterday.
The Dons were beaten 3-0 by Dundee United at Pittodrie in their quarter-final as they failed to come anywhere near the level of display from their 1-1 draw with Celtic in midweek.
Glass was disappointed at the lethargic display and insists he and his coaching staff will ensure the players can give him what he wants next season.
He said: “We looked mentally tired and unable to play under that level of pressure for the third time in a week. It is something we’ll have to learn from, address and ensure with work with the players that it doesn’t happen again.
“I want to think how we are going to work and we’ll prepare the players in a way that will have them capable of doing this. Anytime thing change for players it is fatiguing and they are feeling the end of the season.
“Due to the pandemic they are not doing the usual things and you can see teams all over the country struggling with fatigue.
“Next year I’m hoping we’ll have a different group, a different mindset capable of handling this sort of thing. I hope you will see a group of men which is able to compete.”
Glass believes the two high-profile games his side has faced in the last seven days played a defining part in how flat their showing was yesterday and while he was hurting from the loss the Aberdeen manager insists it has been insightful.
He said: “You learn a lot from a game like this. You learn what is required to handle that level of three games in a week. You learn which players are capable of doing it and which are not.
“But I have to say the application and professionalism has been first class. It’s not as if we had the choice of making five or six changes without throwing loads of young players into a group of that magnitude. The group is what it is.
“We’re here for a reason. I want to reiterate the players have given us everything. The way we want to work takes a lot out of the players and I think we’ll have them prepared for when that eventuality comes next season.”
🎥 Post match reaction from the manager. pic.twitter.com/V908oyaUtK
— Aberdeen FC (@AberdeenFC) April 25, 2021
While there was frustration for Glass there was delight for Dundee United boss Micky Mellon who is heading to Hampden for the first time in his career after guiding his side to victory.
He said: “As a wee boy everything you wanted to do was to be involved in the two major stadiums in the UK and to say I’ve done Wembley and Hampden will be right up there with what I dreamed of as a kid.
“It’s fantastic Dundee United have come up to Aberdeen and put in a performance like that to get to a semi-final but I’m not one to sit in my rocking chair and reflect.
“Enough will never be enough, they will want more and more, and I will embrace that.”
