Stephen Robinson praises players after draw in first game as Aberdeen boss

New Aberdeen head coach Stephen Robinson was pleased with the reaction of his players as the Dons ground out a well-earned draw with Falkirk in the William Hill Premiership at Pittodrie.

The Dons looked solid defensively and took the lead through Kevin Nisbet after a poor touch from Falkirk goalkeeper Scott Bain, but Barney Stewart’s late header earned the visitors a share of the points.

Robinson praised the showing by his players after a lack of preparation time following his move from St Mirren earlier this week.

He said: “We had one day to prepare for it. We looked a lot more organised, better structured.

“We’re a lot better on the ball than what we showed. We looked like a team that’s lost five of the last six games, in possession.

“There were good performances within that – Liam Morrison had the best game he’s had for the football club and [Dennis] Geiger was excellent at times.

“We were organised against a very good Falkirk team. There’s a lot of positives in terms of out of possession.

“It’s a start. There’s a lot more structure after one training session and I’m sure we’ll improve.

“When you have a structure, your better players then need to show the composure a lot more than we did today, and that’ll come.”

Falkirk boss John McGlynn was delighted with the resilience his side showed to come back from Bain’s error.

Commenting on Stewart’s leveller, McGlynn said: “It was a great goal, and it was very late in the game, but I think we deserved it.

“I don’t think there was much in the game, it had 0-0 written all over it.

“We make a mistake, they punish us and fair play to them. Their game was to press and press and press, and they got their reward.

“Great mentality, great character, great goal. It’s a great header from Barney – the goalkeeper never even moved. He was a threat all day, they were aware of him and they panicked and rushed clearances at times.

“We had moments in the game we did well, it wasn’t our fluent best, but going back down the road with a point from a situation where we were 1-0 down with not a lot of time to go, I’m pleased with the attributes you show when you have to try to get something from nothing.”