Derek McInnes urges Aberdeen to bounce back from European disappointment

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes has told his players they must learn lessons from their European exit and improve quickly.

The Dons suffered a 2-0 home defeat by Rijeka on Thursday to depart the Europa League with a 4-0 aggregate scoreline.

McInnes was unhappy with the way his side squandered possession in the opening stages as the loss of a 10th-minute goal gave them a mountain to climb.

And the task proved insurmountable after Funso Ojo was sent off midway through the first half.

The Dons suffered defeat at St Mirren in the league days earlier and they will be determined to avoid making it a real week to forget when they take on Dundee in the Betfred Cup second round on Sunday.

McInnes told Red TV: “The trade-off now, we are out of Europe and we have to concentrate fully on domestic matters. We have a cup competition we want to do well in.

“We will look at the period until we went down to 10 men and we have got to improve. We have to improve as we go along.

“The good thing is we have no fresh injuries from Thursday. (Lewis) Ferguson is suspended but we will have a team focused and ready to set about the task of winning away from home.

“It will be a tough challenge for us but one we plan to meet head on and it’s important we respond in the right way.”

FourFourTwo Staff

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