We will go and try to get a positive result in Spain

DEREK McINNES has challenged Aberdeen to emulate St Johnstone’s first-leg Eu r o p e a n exploits.

TheDonssecuredtheirplaceinthe EuropaLeaguethirdqualifyinground with an impressive win over Groningen in Holland onThursday.

That result – along with their 3-0 awaywinoverDaugavaRiga– proved McInnes’ side are shrewd enough to do the business on the Continent.

Butwherebothpreviousawaytrips have come in the second leg, this time the Reds must follow the Saints’ example of bringing something back to Scotland from abroad when they face Real Sociedad.

The Perth side’s first-leg away goals against Rosenborg lastyear, andLuzern in this campaign, saw them dump both teams out at McDiarmid Park.

And McInnes, who took in the Spaniards’ friendly with NEC Nijmegen yesterday, believeshissidecanultimatelydothe sametotheLaLigasideatPittodrieby showing no fear inThursday’s first leg in San Sebastian.

He said: “We’ll go and try to get a positive result in Spain.

“In an ideal world, you look to go and score. We’ve all seen the importance of scoring goals on the road.

“We want to make sure the game at Pittodrie has something riding on it. It will be difficult. We’re under no illusions about that.

“But I think we’re certainly capable of going to Real Sociedad and getting a positive result.

“Both ties in Europe are important. You’ve got different ways of approaching them, but you need two strong performances.

“With the first game being away from home, you maybe approach it slightly differently than if you were at home first.

“But we’ll be looking to be positive, and with the pace that we have going forward, we’re more than capable of causing problems.”

Key to the Dons’ forward-thinking gameplan is Peter Pawlett – and that hasn’t gone unnoticed by the Dons’ European opponents.

Daugava Riga resorted to kicking the wide man early in the first leg of their tie, while Groningen eventually followed suit.

However, McInnes warned that opposition bosses are wrong to focus on stopping Pawlett at the expense of others in his side. And he reckons that the Dons’ wealth of attacking talent can ensure they achieve even more this season than they did last.

He said: “Peter is the type of player who the opposition will see as someone they will have to keep quiet.

“But I think we’ve got a few players of that ilk. We’ve got some real attacking threats with the pace of Hayes, PawlettandMcGinninbehindAdam Rooney.

“We used that really well at times against Groningen, and with our pace and movement we’re difficult to contain at times.

“That’ssomethingIhopecanserve uswellthisseasonbecauseouraimis to improve.”