Boss Stephen Glass has called on every Aberdeen player to show the same ‘desperation to win’ as team captain Scott Brown.
The 36-year-old midfielder led the Dons out for the first time in the 5-1 Euro demolition of Swedish side BK Hacken.
Former Celtic captain Brown skippered the Parkhead side to nine-in-a-row and a Quadruple Treble but still retains a relentless drive to win.
Glass insists that desire was clear in the Uefa Europa Conference League clash with the Swedes.
And he will demand that same will to win from everyone in his squad.
Glass said: “Scott showed against BK Hacken what it means to captain the team and to drive the team on.
“There might have been doubt about him when it was first being talked about that Scott might come here.
“However anybody that wants to win will be delighted Scott is at this club.
“He has s a desperation to win football matches which is what I want at the club from all the players.”
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Brown has led for many years
Having won 21 trophies during a 14 year career at Parkhead former Scotland captain Brown rejected the offer of a new contract with Celtic to join Glass’ squad rebuild.
Having reached a pre-contract agreement towards the end of last season Brown officially signed on at the Dons in the summer on a two-year deal.
He has a dual player-coaching capacity and was named team captain in the build up to the second qualifying round first leg tie.
Brown has led out Celtic in the Champions League group stages and has captained on the European stage against giants like Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus, AC Milan, Manchester United and Paris St Germain.
He will lead the Dons out in Gothenburg in the return leg on Thursday as they aim to finish the job to secure a spot in the third qualifying round tie.
Awaiting in the next round is either Austria Vienna or Breidablik of Iceland with the tie finely balanced following a 1-1 draw in Austria.
Glass said: “We have a leader in Scott that has done it for however many years .
“He has a desire to continue and for as long as he can keep doing it we will see it.”
Pittodrie rocking again on a Euro night
The Euro atmosphere returned to Pittodrie with the 5,665 supporters inside the stadium roaring on the Dons.
Last season the only Euro tie at Pittordrie was against NSI Runavik of Faroe Islands, a 6-0 win in the first qualifying round, but was closed door due to the cornavirus pandemic.
European ties were reduced to one leg last season to cut down on risk with overseas travel amidst the Covid-19 crisis.
The single ties last season against Viking Stavanger (Norway, 2-0 win) and Sporting Lisbon (Portugal, 1-0 loss) were away from home.
This season the ties have returned to the traditional home and away format with the Dons set to jet out to Sweden for the return leg on BK Hacken’s artificial pitch.
Glass thanks Red Army for their support
Glass thanked the Red Army for their backing on their return to the stadium having been locked out for almost 18 months due to coronavirus lockdown restrictions.
It was the first time Glass had managed Aberdeen in front of supporters.
He said: “Managing the team in front of the Aberdeen public felt good but the response they gave the players meant more to me.
“It was a little bit sticky the first 10 minutes or so where it was even because Hacken are a very good team.
“They are dangerous and we were feeling our way a little bit.
“But the backing we got from the supporters seeped into the players.
“I think good players respond to supporters as well.
“A lot of the big players have missed it and you could see the response when the noise started kicking up a little bit.
“I am delighted for the players and for the public that came along as well.”
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