Europe 'super important' for Aberdeen - Thelin
Conference League: AEK Athens v Aberdeen
Venue: Agia Sophia Stadium, Athens Date: Thursday, 23 October Time: 17:45 BST
Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio Scotland Extra & Sounds, live text commentary on the BBC Sport website & app
Jimmy Thelin says it's important Aberdeen begin to show their qualities in European matches as well as domestic fixtures.
The Dons are in Greece to take on AEK Athens in their second match in Thursday's Conference League match.
Aberdeen lost their opening league phase game at home to Shakhtar Donetsk with Marko Nikolic's AEK beaten away to Slovenian side Celje.
But, after successive wins over Dundee and St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership, Thelin believes his side are ready to register their first European points of the season.
"We need the points and if you are in the competition we will try to get through to the final games," he said.
"It's super important in many ways. First of all to build upon the results we have had in our league, this is a different type of team we will play against now and we know the fine margins.
"You get really punished when you make mistakes in some areas.
"For our way to grow, to deserve to go through we will need a really strong performance. Of course, we need points."
AEK are third in the Greek Super League following Sunday's home defeat by PAOK.
"We come up against a really good team," said Thelin.
"I like the way Marko Nikolic is playing. Good ideas, good attacking formation, so it's a challenge for us but it's also good for us to take this challenge and believe in ourselves.
"It's important for us to be strong in all competitions. You want to come up against really good teams and put ourselves under this pressure to challenge and show that we are good."
Team news
Defenders Emmanuel Gyamfi and Sivert Heltne Nilsen are unavailable for Aberdeen.
Thelin boasts an otherwise fit squad for the match in Athens. they started th league really well
What they said
Aberdeen defender Nicky Devlin: "We're going in with two wins. The boys are going in with a wee bit more confidence. We're kind of starting to find the rhythm that we wanted to, probably a few weeks later than we wanted to.
"We'll be more than ready when the game comes. I'm delighted [James Penrice] got the kind of move he did to a club like [AEK]. He's probably one of my best pals in football, played with him for three years. It'll be good to come up against him. When the game starts, it's about winning."
AEK Athens defender James Penrice: "It's been very different, it's been very up and down but I've enjoyed every minute of it. It's been a massive life experience, a massive change for me. I expected it to be hard. It's taken me a bit of time to adjust.
"[Aberdeen have] signed a lot of players in the summer. There's a big turnaround. I've tried to give [AEK] the best insight as possible. We will be prepared for the game."
Match stats
Aberdeen have won two games in a row after ending an eight-game run without a victory.
AEK Athens have lost just twice in 16 games this season, but two of those have come in their past three outings.
Aberdeen's 1-0 win over St Mirren on Saturday ended a run of three straight away defeats without scoring.
Saturday's win lifted Jimmy Thelin's side off the bottom of the Scottish Premiership and above Livingston.
Sunday's 2-0 defeat by PAOK ended AEK's run of seven consecutive home wins this season.
Scottish left-backs James Penrice (AEK) and Greg Taylor (PAOK) were both unused substitutes for Sunday's match in the Greek Super League.
PAOK's win meant they replaced their hosts at the top of the Greek Super League, with AEK dropping to third.
Aberdeen have yet to beat a Greek side in three matches, losing 3-2 at home and drawing 2-2 away to PAOK in the Conference League group stage two seasons ago and losing 3-0 in Athens to Panathinaikos in the Uefa Cup group stage in 2007.
AEK have only lost once in 10 games against Scottish sides in European competition, winning seven, the latest being a 3-2 win on aggregate over Celtic in Champions League qualifying in 2018.
Hibernian are the only Scottish side to have beaten AEK, but the Greeks progressed in the Uefa Cup in 2001 4-3 on aggregate after extra time despite a 3-2 loss at Easter Road.
Dundee United are the only Scottish team to avoid defeat by AEK in Athens, but their 1-1 Europa League play-off draw in 2010 was to no avail, coming after a 1-0 first-leg loss at Tannadice.
