Jimmy Thelin paid tribute to Aberdeen's Kevin Nisbet for bouncing back from a horror miss to end a six game drought.

The 11 time Scotland cap, who is on loan at the Dons from Millwall, has struggled to recapture the prolific form from his Hibs days that won him a big money move to the English Championship. The 27-year-old passed up a golden chance to make it 3-0 against former side Dunfermline Athletic when Pape Gueye squared for him but he hit the post.

Nisbet, though didn't let the miss go to his head, as he kept working and managed to seal the win when he slid in Shayden Morris’s cross. The Dons had gone ahead thanks to goals on either side of the half from Pape Gueye and Alexander Jensen and Nisbet put the gloss on it as the Dons eased their way into the quarter-finals. And having scored just three times in his last 17 outings, Thelin is now expecting more.

READ MORE: Scott McTominay sets standard for Serie A midfielders as Scotland hero achieves milestone

READ MORE: Lewis Ferguson back in training as Scotland star gives Bologna welcome boost

Thelin said: “He has worked really hard on the training pitch and gets sharper every week. I can see the smile when he scored, he was happy and relieved. It’s good for him and us. We’re now looking forward to the draw. It was an important game for us. We had to win. The players in the first half showed more directness.

“With how we arrived in the box and how we attacked, which was good, we saw some clear signs of what we want in the future and going back to this attacking approach of the game. Sometimes timing is important and Shayden did a really good assist so three goals and a clean sheet.”

Winless in the Premiership since November, Thelin now hopes to see his players take confidence from their cup successes, adding: “Some parts of the game we still have to improve but it’s good to see the directness, especially in the first half. It’s what we’ve missed the last month. Especially with how we created and attacked. That’s what we have to take and do more and more and focus on the good parts.”