Aberdeen v Kairat: McInnes calls for measured approach

Derek McInnes is hopeful Aberdeen can reach the Europa League play-off round

Manager Derek McInnes insists there is no need for Aberdeen to go "gung-ho" as they seek to eliminate Kairat Almaty from the Europa League qualifiers.

The Dons trail 2-1 from last week's first leg in Kazakhstan, meaning a 1-0 win would take them through to the play-off round on away goals.

"You don't have to score in the early stages of the game," said McInnes.

"Ideally we will. There has to be a measured approach and intelligence as well passion."

Impressive goals from Mikhail Bakaev and Bauyrzhan Islamkhan put Kairat into a two-goal lead 22 minutes into their first encounter with Aberdeen.

But McInnes's men improved as the game went on and Kenny McLean's strike midway through the second half gives them genuine hope they can win the third qualifying round tie.

Aberdeen struggled to contain Kairat in the first half in Kazakhstan but grew into the game

"It [the away goal] gives everybody that bit more encouragement," explained McInnes.

"The tie seems more achievable with it. We always stressed the importance of having that away goal.

"While the task is still a tough one to overcome, that goal does make it that slightly bit more doable and we firmly believe that we can achieve the result that we want to get through but we know we need to overcome a good side.

"You saw their quality in the first leg. They still possess that quality and we need to make sure that we try and limit their opportunities. The two goals are top quality, it shows you what they can do.

"It gives us encouragement that we can go and score again. We've got it all to do but it's something that we're looking forward to.

"We can't just hope to win and throw everything at it. It won't be a gung-ho approach. We do see the importance of starting well and imposing ourselves on the game, being the home team with almost 20,000 fans behind us.

"We want to try and utilise the crowd and get them into it as well but we're playing against, I think everybody appreciates, a good team and we're not going to get it all our own way."