Jimmy Thelin: Aberdeen must focus on league now Hampden place is secure

Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin was delighted to see his side reach the Scottish Cup semi-finals but said the full focus will now be on the Premiership until that Hampden date comes around.

A double from Oday Dabbagh, an inventive finish from Kevin Nisbet and a goal from Graeme Shinnie on his 600th game gave the Dons a 4-1 win over Queen’s Park and secured a place in the draw for the final four of the competition.

That means a trip to the national stadium in April and a chance to move a step closer to silverware. Thelin admitted he was excited by the prospect but stressed that the competitive nature of the Premiership, where only three points separate third-placed Hibs, fourth-place Aberdeen and Dundee United in fifth, meant the focus had to quickly change.

“It’s good to have it there in the future to look forward to and it’s going be a big game,” Thelin said. “Everybody wants to be at Hampden and fight for a final spot and try to win something.

“So that’s the first part. It’s good also that the last time we played against Queen Park it was a 1-0 win in the last minute.

“So we never knew before this game and so I’m happy that we did score the goals and were quite stable today and they deserve a semi-final spot – let see against whom – and of course, when you go to the semi-final, the thought is the final.

“But now we have to focus on the league first because it’s so tight in the table, but when we are in the semi-finals, of course we have to try to win and reach the final.”

Thelin was impressed with how his side found their feet after a shaky start and how his side gelled despite changes to the starting lineup.

“The first five minutes, we were a little bit unstable and they created some opportunities from the crosses,” he said.

“But during the first half we get more and more connections, they found the rhythm and we get more and more stable and did a good job as a team with an important win.”

Queen’s Park boss Callum Davidson had masterminded a victory over Rangers at Ibrox to reach this stage but felt his team’s chances started to slip when Adam Montgomery reported injured in the morning and he then lost Nikola Ijdur.

“The first 20 minutes we were in the game,” he said. “We had some chances but then little things are pivotal. They score from a set-piece, we don’t play percentage football and then it’s 2-0.

“They got all the confidence and then for the next 20 minutes we really struggled, right up to when they got the fourth goal.

“I lost Adam Montgomery this morning to a calf injury, another left back and then Nikola Ujdur had to come off.

“If were to beat Aberdeen these little things had to go for us and they didn’t today.”