Aberdeen interim manager Peter Leven says his side need to take their chances if they are to take the next step in their Scottish Cup defence by knocking out Motherwell.
The teams meet in their rescheduled fifth round tie at Pittodrie on Wednesday, just days after Motherwell won the Premiership encounter between the sides 2-0 at Fir Park.
Leven said there were plenty of reasons for him to feel encouraged by his side's performance despite defeat but urged the team to be clinical to make the most of any opportunities.
"As I said to the boys today, we are the holders, we want to defend it, we want to get to the final again, and we want to win it," he said.
"We've got to take our chances. Everyone saw that we had enough chances [on Sunday], and they did as well but in the second half we had clear cut opportunities to get back in the game. Obviously we've watched it back and it's frustrating because there was a clear handball. The ball doesn't leave the box because it struck his arm, the ref doesn't see it and it's really frustrating.
"We know how important it is in this league to get the first goal because the chances of you going on to win it are quite high. So it's frustrating but there were a lot of positives from the game that we can go on and cause problems for Motherwell tomorrow."
The interim boss, who said he still hadn't been told anything about his future despite reports that he will be in charge until summer, said it was possible his team might enjoy a break from a difficult league campaign to continue their cup defence. But he said the important thing was just to get a victory.
"It's been difficult, I'm not going to lie," he said. "But we have to take the positives from the last game.
"But we're at the business end of the season and it's about winning games. The most important part is that we are still in the cup, come Thursday.
"Since I've taken over there's been signs that we can get back. The Livingston game, obviously, and parts of the game at the weekend were really good.
"It's just about getting that consistency and doing it for the majority of the game.
"They're a good team in very good form but we're at home. We've got to take the game to them, play our way and again, it's all about getting through."