Aberdeen manager Stephen Glass insists his players are devastated at not taking the race for third place in the Scottish Premiership to the final game of the season.
Christian Doidge’s goal gave Hibernian victory at Pittodrie last night with the 1-0 win ensuring the Dons will finish fourth for the third season running.
Glass says his crestfallen players have given their all to try to catch Hibs and was frustrated not to take the race to Saturday’s final round of fixtures.
He said: “I think when I took the phone call we were 10 points behind. So it’s a long way to claw back.
“We’re devastated with the result because we felt we could claw it back. That shows the belief in the group – and I think it shows where we’re going to end up.”
The result leaves the Dons with only pride to play for against Rangers at Ibrox on Saturday where they will attempt to prevent the champions from going the entire league campaign unbeaten.
With third place now decided the Dons boss has decisions to make on which players he wants to keep at the club but he has no plans on bringing forward the timing of his announcement.
He said: “It will still be next week. We’re making decisions behind the scenes. But the turnaround is really quick this week. The players will know when the time is right.
“Some of them will make their own decisions.”
🎥 Post match reaction from the manager. pic.twitter.com/YWiIJjTzev
— Aberdeen FC (@AberdeenFC) May 12, 2021
The future of loan strikers Callum Hendry, Florian Kamberi and Fraser Hornby has also to be determined and Glass has hinted Saturday may not be their last game in an Aberdeen shirt.
He said: “I’ve made my mind up what I’d like to do. They belong to other clubs. So there are situations that other clubs are in control of. We know what we’d like to do.
“It’s an alteration, perhaps. Players coming and going. This period has given us the opportunity to see exactly what we’d like to change.
“You are looking at the ones you can change, who you want to keep. It would be ideal to get it done before pre-season but other clubs won’t want to help us do that. It might not happen.”
While the season is effectively over for Aberdeen, delighted Hibs boss Jack Ross hopes his side can cap a rare third place finish by claiming the Scottish Cup next weekend.
He said: “You saw by the reaction how much it meant to us. It’s been a driver from day one of pre-season. We felt it was a realistic but big ambition.
“To achieve it, you look at how long it’s been – 16 years. Only five times in my lifetime. It’s been a long push but they’ve worked really hard to get here.
“The group said they felt it was achievable to finish third. They’ve shown character, resilience, played brilliantly and dealt with bumps along the way.
“All the accolades they get, they deserve. Most away wins in a season. It can be an absolutely outstanding season if they win the cup. It’s already been really, really good.
“Everything now is about May 22 and being successful on that day. It makes my job a bit easier.”