Defiant Aberdeen manager Barry Robson has vowed to lead the club back to more Hampden finals after suffering Viaplay Cup heartache.
The Dons’ bid to secure a first trophy since 2014 fell short as they were edged out 1-0 by Rangers in the Viaplay Cup final.
A James Tavernier goal late in the second half killed Aberdeen’s dream of ending a near decade-long trophy drought.
Despite the final disappointment, Robson hailed his squad for giving “every drop, every ounce” of effort at the national stadium.
He reckons the Reds had Rangers “hanging in there” at the end.
After leading Aberdeen to his first cup final as manager, Robson is determined to deliver many more.
He said: “We want to be in more finals.
“They gave everything, that is clear.
“When you have Rangers Football Club hanging in there at the end that shows you what we tried to do as a team.
“They gave us every drop, every ounce.
“We had a go and I’m just frustrated for our fans we couldn’t get the ball over the line.”
Robson sums up his emotions
Aberdeen were competing in their first final since losing the League Cup showpiece 1-0 to Celtic in December 2018.
Robson and his squad were bidding to secure only the third trophy for the Dons in almost 30 years to follow up the success of the 2014 and 1995 League Cup wins.
Asked what his emotions were at full-time, Robson said: “Not very good.
“We have just been beaten.”
Robson says Aberdeen ‘just fell short’
Aberdeen were given a pre-final boost when star striker Bojan Miovski was passed fit to start against Rangers.
Miovski had missed the 2-0 Europa Conference League Group G victory against German giants Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday due to a hamstring issue.
Robson accepts the stakes were high for both clubs to deliver silverware at Hampden.
He said: “It was a tight game.
“There were two teams going for it and a lot of emotion in the game.
“It has been a while since we won a cup and also a while since Rangers won a cup.
“In the first half we were structurally very good in that transition.
“We probably picked the wrong pass two or three times when I thought we could have cut them open then.
“We tried to have a go and tried to make a positive impact with substitutes to try to win the game.
“But we just fell short.”
‘Rangers just beat Real Betis in Spain’
Aberdeen delivered a strong performance defensively but failed to pose a threat on Rangers’ goal.
Rangers captain Tavernier netted the winner with an acrobatic scissors-kick goal in the 76th minute after controlling a Borna Barisic cross.
The win extended Rangers unbeaten run under manager Philippe Clement to 15 games since his appointment two months ago.
Robson said: “That’s Rangers we were playing.
“They are a good side who just beat Real Betis (3-2 in the Europa League) in Spain, you have to remember that.
“Rangers are a really good team with a really good manager.
“We came down to Hampden and knew that we were not going to get it all our own way.
“We have no right as Aberdeen to come down here and run the whole game.
“With Rangers that is a proper team we were playing against.
“It is hard when you come up against a team that has real quality.”
‘A bit of quality’ turned the final
Robson made eight changes to the starting XI that had shocked Bundesliga giants Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday.
Those changes had clearly been made with the final in mind as the Dons could not qualify for the knock-out phase of the Europa Conference League.
Robson said: “We know with the transition there are a lot of teams scared of us on that.
“I thought we could have been a bit better with the ball at times.
“I’m sure Rangers will think they could have been a bit better.
“In the second half we got a bit better with the ball.
“We did huff and puff a wee bit, but so did Rangers.
“But Tavernier just had that bit of quality and he has always got that.”
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