There was a relaxed mood around the City Stadium on Friday morning as Aberdeen conducted their pre-match press duties in Glasgow ahead of facing Hibs in the Viaplay Cup semi-final.

Having defeated Motherwell 4-2 on Wednesday night in the Premiership, the decision was taken to remain in the central belt rather than head back up A90 to Aberdeen only to head south again 24 hours later. After all, the Dons have done a lot of travelling recently.

Reaching the group stages of the Europa Conference League has resulted in a congested fixture list, with a trip to Frankfurt chalked up and upcoming flights to Thessaloniki and Helsinki. Last weekend they were in Kilmarnock and manager Barry Robson knows how fatiguing the travel can be for Aberdeen from his own days as a player. Residing in a Glasgow city centre hotel and training in the shadows of Hampden at Queen’s Park’s home was deemed more beneficial. “We looked at the travelling,” said Robson. “We have something like five games on the road in a row again. We tried to take journeys and tiredness out of the players.”

The Aberdeen players train at The City Stadium, in the shadows of Hampden, ahead of Saturday's semi-final against Hibs.

Robson will be the first to admit that his players, and the club as a whole, have felt the impact of playing group-stage European football. The Thursday-Sunday turnaround has hampered consistency and domestic form and some of their opponents in the Conference League have provided stern tests. Their only meeting this season with Saturday afternoon’s opponents, Hibs, came after sapping tie against Hacken. They lost 2-0 back in September but captain Graeme Shinnie believes the Dons are “massively” a much better team now.

Winning at Fir Park on Wednesday gave Aberdeen their first win in four matches and restored some confidence ahead of such an important fixture. Winners of this trophy back in 2014, Shinnie was on the end of the celebrations as an Inverness player following the Dons’ penalty shootout triumph at Celtic Park. He has played in four semi-finals as a Dons player and has won three of them, including a Scottish Cup clash against Hibs. One of his biggest regrets, though, is not going all the way with the Dons. At the age of 32, the captain is all too aware of the magnitude of this match.

"I've always said it, my time here last time I was here it was disappointing not to lift any silverware,” explained the midfielder. "I've done it once in my career at Inverness and it's one of the best feelings you get in football. I'm determined to try and do it again and have no better feeling than lifting a bit of silverware for Aberdeen – it would be a very proud moment.

"A lot of my Hampden experiences for Aberdeen are good and bad. The experience of the supporters being there and everything that comes with it, these are things that we tell the boys. What that can do at a club like Aberdeen ... I saw that when I got beaten by Aberdeen in a final! Fortunately we went on to win a cup [with Caley] the following year but seeing Aberdeen celebrate, that's what can be achieved.”

Dons manager Barry Robson was in a good mood as he spoke to the media ahead of the match.

His manager can talk first-hand about what it is like to win the League Cup with Aberdeen. He played in central midfield against Shinnie when defeating Inverness and puts it down as one of his career highlights. “I must have been 34 or 35 and I had just come back to Aberdeen,” he recalled. “It was great having my whole family there and then there were a couple of days of celebration, which was good. I couldn’t get people out of my house for the next couple of days.”

Robson also tasted silverware at Celtic. Are his medals on display back at home? “No, nothing like that,” he laughed. “My mum has got them. But the only pictures you will see on my walls is of my kids and my missus. There’s nothing of me, I can assure you. I’m at the bottom of the ladder in my house. It’s all about the memories. You could be reading a newspaper or something pops up and you are reminded of the good times you had.”

Robson does have a good memory, though, of having to buy the booze for his team-mates for the journey back to Aberdeen from Celtic Park in 2014 as punishment for being late for a team meeting. “The annoying thing about that was I was actually sitting in the hotel room and I was thinking: ‘I’ve got to wait another 15 minutes,’ he regaled. “I was sitting around waiting but not realising the team meeting was actually now.

“I remember coming down to the meeting and they were the happiest team I have ever seen. There were set fines and I turned round and said to them: ‘I’m not paying a fine! But I’ll tell you what I’ll do. Go and win the cup and if we win the cup I’ll buy the biggest carry out you have ever seen.’ And I tell you what – they did do that! That was a sore one on my bank balance. They were just going into the shop and grabbing bottles of anything – I mean anything. And half of the stuff never got touched. It was just to try and do me in. I don’t know where all that alcohol went but they were great times. It was a brilliant day and a brilliant night.”

Robson won the League Cup as a player for the Dons in 2014.

Will he be offering the same incentive to his players today? “No chance! We have got enough games. They better not be drinking. They can leave that up to me and Aggers [Steve Agnew, his assistant]. But even we don’t get time for a beer.”

He will ask his players to drink in the moment and put on a performance against a good Hibs side. “Hopefully we can put a good performance on Saturday,” Robson finished, on a more serious note. “It will be a really tough game, but we just have to try and bring as much enthusiasm and energy to the game as we can. Tactically the players have been good and hopefully we can get it right and deliver. We need to get every little detail right to win.”

Calm Aberdeen explain early Glasgow arrival as Barry Robson holds court with carry-out story - 'I don’t know where all that alcohol went'

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