Graeme Shinnie insists Aberdeen FC must learn to deal with European rigours with 'miles better' demand served

Graeme Shinnie knows Aberdeen must be miles better and get used to the demands of hitting the road domestically and in Europe.

The skipper was first to admit his Dons side were not good enough and “a yard off it” as it took a 100th-minute penalty from Bojan Miovski to salvage a point at St Mirren on Sunday. It came off the back of a 2-2 Europa League comeback against BK Hacken in Gothenburg and now Barry Robson’s men need to regroup for Thursday’s winner-takes-all return at Pittodrie. Shinnie said: “Not good enough. It was plain to see we were a yard off. We were extremely delighted to come away with a point.

“We were a yard off the whole game. In the first half it showed and I don’t think it got any better. We might have been even worse in the second half. It’s always hard to come on in, in a game like that. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a tough place to go when they’re in the form that they’re in. We need to be better, we know that. The only positive we could take from it was that we got a point. We are back up the road now and we will focus on Thursday.

“Yes, it was tough coming off the back of what we put in on Thursday. But we need to deal with that this season and we need to be miles better.”

The positive from the last two games Robson’s men can take is their fighting spirit and their desire to dig in, even when things are going against them to come away with something. The skipper added: “It’s a good trait to have – to play as badly as we did and come away with a point.

“To stick in, stay with it and get a point at the end is a good thing to have, of course. But we can’t be playing like that.”

Shinnie is one of the more experienced campaigners in the squad and can probably adjust to the physical demands of