Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes has issued a rallying call to pack out Pittodrie as he tries to guide the Dons to the group stage of the Europa League.
The Dons have reached the third qualifying round in the past two seasons before losing to Real Sociedad and Almaty respectively. Maribor, of Slovenia, stand between McInnes’ men and the final play-off round.
The stakes are high for the Dons and McInnes wants the Red Army to do their part and fill Pittodrie on Thursday and roar the team on to victory.
He said: “We’re hoping for around 18,000 and I cannot wait.
“There isn’t a lot of drama every minute when a team is away from home and not too much excitement for the crowd. It is occasions like that where patience is required and our supporters showed that in the first two rounds before we got the goals our play merited in the final half hour.
“I thought we got it bang-on against Ventspils and the players deserve credit for keeping their heads and not going gung-ho and falling into a trap.
“We’ll need that same focus and patience for the next round.
“We said to the players before the Ventspils game on Thursday that the ground felt so detached from what a top European venue and arena should be but now we face a good tie against a team of real pedigree and we have to be ready for it.
“We will need a performance and result and I just want a shot at making that group stages. We are looking for the improvement ourselves and we know we can be a tough opponent for Maribor.”
The Dons have played four competitive games so far and McInnes believes his players have improved with each game in the competition.
The Aberdeen manager believes there was much to be happy about following his side’s 4-0 aggregate win against Ventspils, of Latvia, on Thursday and insists his side can go into Thursday’s game with confidence.
He said: “There was some looseness in possession but we were the better side and created some good opportunities in Latvia.
“There were some really strong performances and I thought the back four got better together in the second half, while Ryan Jack, Graeme Shinnie and Kenny McLean were excellent.
“Joe Lewis can also be very happy with how he has started his career at Aberdeen. He got a great hand on the ball to keep out a penalty and it is clear we have two very good goalkeepers.
“We will need all the players to continue that improvement if we want to make progress in Europe as the standard is increasing with each round. The excitement is building the further we go and we will do all we can to put ourselves in a position to go through.”
