Aberdeen boss Stephen Glass pinpoints 'biggest lesson' after Qarabag defeat as Calvin Ramsay earns praise

Stephen Glass admitted his Aberdeen side were defeated “pretty clearly” by a better side in Qarabag as he earmarked the biggest area his team need to improve.

Aberdeen boss Stephen Glass. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

The Dons failed at the play-off stage of the Conference League, losing 4-1 on aggregate to the opposition from Azerbaijan.

Qarabag showed their quality at Pittodrie, racing into an early two-goal lead before winning 3-1 on the night.

Glass was full of praise for the opposition while noting the areas where his side needed to improve going forward.

“We started the game okay, they scored a goal with their quality”, he said. “Their quality players produced, that’s always the danger when you play a team of that level.

“We knew they would enjoy the pitch. They have a team that’s littered with top players. They are very well coached. They showed it tonight, it was pretty clear and it’s not an embarrassment they are a level above us.

“The biggest lesson is how much we look after the ball.

"I think when we take care of the ball we look more dangerous. You’re giving the ball away less, you are giving their players less opportunity to hurt you. I think we did it a little bit too often.

He added: “I said to the players we have an opportunity to prove we have got as good a group of players in Scotland as anyone.

“It's a long-time process to get a team playing like that. That manager’s been there a while.

"The aim for us as a group is to get better year on year. If we get to that stage next year I’m hoping we run into a group of players that are better than us that we can handle it better.

Aberdeen’s best performer on the night was Calvin Ramsay who only recently turned 18 but looked like he was made for this level.

Glass revealed the club have been “delighted” with the right-back’s progress.

“His performance level was brilliant throughout playing against a real top player or two on that side, three if you include the centre forward as well,” he said.

"It’s a great learning experience and it doesn’t look like he has to learn but there are little situations where he could have done better.

"He's going to be a top, top player.”

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