Jim Goodwin could sense nerves at Rangers in their Premier Sports Cup quarter-final win over Dundee - which is why he takes so much heart from Aberdeen comfortably defeating Partick Thistle.
The Dons boss watched his side go 3-0 up on the Championship leaders before half-time and made changes at the break, eventually winning 4-1 to tee up a semi-final against Giovanni van Bronckhorst's men in January. Second-tier Dundee meanwhile forced Rangers into being booed off at Ibrox as they booked their last four spot in unconvincing fashion via a 1-0 win.
A struggle in Glasgow shows Goodwin that his team had the better of the final eight proceedings. He said on Sportsound: "The first half I thought we were excellent against a Partick Thistle side flying high in their own league. We had to be at our best and we made changes at half-time. I hope people don't dwell too much on the second half performance.
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"We beat the team at the top of the Championship quite convincingly. I watched the tail end of the Rangers game there and only beat them 1-0, with a nervy last 10 minutes.
"Hopefully that will put it into perspective for people. The remit was to try and get to Hampden. The board of directors and supporters I think demand that.
"My remit is to win silverware. They haven't put pressure on me to win silverware this year but I made one or two bold statements before a ball was kicked this season.
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