Rangers 1-0 Aberdeen: Barry Robson's side must use 'worst feeling' to arrest league form
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Aberdeen 'tried to have a go but just fell short' at Hampden
"We have to remember this feeling and try to avoid it again."
The post-match words from the Aberdeen dressing room highlighted their Hampden heartache, but they were words of defiance.
After a gut-wrenching Viaplay Cup final defeat by Rangers, decided by James Tavernier's 76th-minute winner, centre-back Stefan Gartenmann says Aberdeen will need time to "feel sorry for ourselves".
But the Dane says it will have to be brief if they are to use "the worst feeling as a footballer" as "an opportunity" to ignite their season and make a swift return to the national stadium.
"It's frustration. It's disappointment. It's in there," Gartenmann adds. "But there's already a game on Wednesday. That's the chance to get back up. We have to move on."
Gartenmann's view was echoed by his manager. Barry Robson said his players "gave me everything" in a game he felt was decided by small margins.
That's despite Aberdeen failing to manage a shot on target in contrast to Rangers' six.
Nevertheless, Robson wants his side to use a "sore" loss to fuel another trip to the national stadium.
"I can't ask for any more from my players," he added. "We were playing against a team that's just beaten Real Betis. Remember that. A lot of people have written Rangers off, but I know they're a good team with a good manager.
"I was pleased with the fight and work-rate they gave me. We went toe-to-toe, we tried our best. We tried to fight in the last 10 minutes, made positive substitutions, but we fell short.
"I told them we need to try and get back here. We need to get to finals and try and win."
Arresting league form now 'main focus'
Aberdeen have more pressing issues, though, and Robson knows that.
The Pittodrie boss says his "main focus is getting us back up the league". That's because his team currently languish in 10th spot after a start to the season which has been plagued with inconsistency.
Despite exiting Europe at the first hurdle, they performed admirably against top-level opposition by accumulating six points in their Europa Conference League group, with three coming in a fine win over Eintracht Frankfurt last Thursday.
But 16 points from 15 league games simply isn't good enough for this group. An unthinkable defeat at home to bottom side Livingston in midweek would drop them to 11th and move Wednesday's visitors to within two points.
That can't be an option for the manager, who is gradually losing the goodwill of last term's third-placed finish.
After a home loss to Kilmarnock earlier this month, there was a worry Robson would perhaps suffer the same fate as Jack Ross, who was sacked by Hibernian two years ago with a League Cup final just over a week away.
But back-to-back wins over Hearts and Eintracht briefly arrested an alarming slump. Robson can't afford for Sunday's Hampden disappointment to derail that.
Instead, it must be used as a catalyst to inspire a group who have demonstrated their potential.
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