Aberdeen boss Stephen Glass will demand an immediate Euro reaction to the ‘enormous blow’ of crashing out of the Premier Sports Cup.
The Dons suffered a 2-1 shock to Championship side Raith Rovers at Stark’s Park.
Glass made seven changes to his starting line-up for the tie and, although ‘bitterly disappointed’ at the cup agony, has no regrets about his reshuffle.
To compound a miserable day for the Dons, Glass faces a Europa Conference League injury sweat over Ryan Hedge and Jonny Hayes.
Playmaker Hedges limped off the pitch injured and Hayes was stretchered off as the Dons finished with nine men.
Both are doubts for the Conference League play-off first leg tie with Qarabag in Baku, Azerbaijan on Thursday.
Glass also confirmed it is unlikely he will secure any new signings before the registration deadline for the play-offs.
Glass said: “I don’t know yet (about Hayes and Hedges), but players don’t want to come off when you are chasing a result.
“The fact we ended up with nine shows that things weren’t great.
“Hopefully they will be ready, but I am not confident – without knowing the full extent of the injury.
“We will give them every opportunity.
“We won’t get much of a chance to train before Thursday.”
Aberdeen in control until half-time
Aberdeen were 1-0 up at half-time and looked to be coasting into the next round courtesy of a superb half-volley from Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, his first competitive goal for the club since his summer signing.
⚽️ ✈️
🔥 A first Dons goal for JET.#StandFree | @OfficialJET10 🆎
— Aberdeen FC (@AberdeenFC) August 15, 2021
However, lower league Raith netted twice in the second half to deliver the first real set back of Aberdeen’s season and Glass’ first full campaign as Reds’ manager.
Glass said: “It is an enormous blow.
“Particularly after the way we controlled the first-half, but weren’t good enough to put it to bed is a bigger blow than just losing the game.
“We are bitterly disappointed, but the biggest thing is the reaction.
“The reaction with the game wasn’t great to the adversity and it becoming a cup tie in the second half.
“It is important the reaction between now and Thursday is a positive one.”
No regrets about making seven changes
Aberdeen will have to recover from their cup agony rapidly as they jet out to Azerbaijan on Tuesday morning on a seven-hour flight to Baku.
Glass made seven changes to his starting line-up for the cup clash at Raith with key players such as Scott Brown, Lewis Ferguson, Christian Ramirez and Ryan Hedges among those dropped to the bench.
He introduced those players in the second half, but still they couldn’t turn the tie around.
Glass has no regrets about making such widespread changes.
On the changes, he said: “You saw a group in the first half who were more than capable of winning that game.
“They didn’t quite do enough but you saw how quickly we became stretched with the injuries.
“The boys who were left out, one full-back was 18 and the other this is in his first season as a professional apart from a loan at Forfar.
“There has to be a protection level there for the players.
“I said before the game it is not about being clever or trying to rotate the group, but this group was more than capable of winning this game.
“We were in control of the first half, but we didn’t start the second half particularly well.
“We allowed the atmosphere to become a cup tie and allowed them to dictate the play.
“They got the goal back quick and our reaction to ourselves to dominate the game again wasn’t really there.”
Glass confirmed there is unlikely to be any new signings before the UEFA registration deadline for the Conference League play-offs.
On potential signings he said:“ As it stands I don’t think so, although I would like to, but we play Thursday and we leave on Tuesday.”
This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.