Source:
http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/40570318THU, 13 Jul 2017Europa League - Qualifying Second Round - 1st Leg
19:45
Gary Mackay-Steven goes straight into the Aberdeen squad for the Europa League second qualifying round first-leg visit by Siroki Brijeg.
The winger has signed from Celtic and joins a dressing-room reporting no injuries, although forward Scott Wright is short of match fitness.
The 19-year-old has missed most of pre-season training through injury.
Siroki Brijeg have already come through a potentially difficult opening-round tie against Ordabasy of Kazakhstan.
After winning the first leg 2-0 at home to the seeded team, Denis Coric's side, with players exclusively from Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, drew 0-0 in the return.
The Blues, who finished seventh in the Liga 12, qualified for the Europa League thanks to a penalty shoot-out win over Sarajevo after the two-leg national cup final finished 1-1 on aggregate.
Their most well-known player is 34-year-old former Rijeka and Dinamo Zagreb striker Ivan Krstanovic, who scored both goals against Ordabasy.
He is one of three members of the squad who have a single cap for Bosnia, the others being midfielder Jure Ivankovic, who missed the previous round, and left-back Josip Barisic, who scored in the Bosnian Cup final.
Coric has recruited four players this summer, including two midfielders on loan from Croats Lokomotiva Zagreb - Josip Coric, who has four caps for Bosnia, and former Croatia Under-21 international Luka Begonja.
The others move also move from Croatian clubs - Croatia Under-19 midfielder Luka Grubisic, who moves from Split, and former Rijeka central defender Bernardo Matic, a Croatia Under-21 cap.
Siroki Brijeg were knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers the last time they met Scottish opposition - losing 3-0 to Hearts in the opening leg in 2006 before a 0-0 draw in the return.
But Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes is aware that his side face higher quality opposition to those that have already knocked out Rangers and St Johnstone in the previous round.
However, he stressed that he does not feel the Dons have a responsibility to restore the reputation of Scottish football.
Mackay-Steven joins four other summer signings at Pittodrie, although former Celtic team-mate Ryan Christie is a familiar face as he enters a second season-long loan with the Dons.
Midfielder Greg Tansey, who has arrived from Inverness Caledonian Thistle, former MK Dons striker Nicky Maynard and on-loan Birmingham City forward Greg Stewart will be hoping to make their Europa League debuts.
They will hope to help the Dons establish a lead ahead of next week's second leg in the Pecara Stadium, which has a capacity of 5,600 in what is one of 12 cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina and has a population of 30,000 in the south west of Bosnia.
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes: "I'm comfortable enough going away from home with the game still in the balance and I don't expect anything to be decided at Pittodrie.
"They are a very good counter-attack team and they will be a very difficult team to beat, but we believe we can progress.
"They dealt with the previous tie very comfortably. They are a very well coached team. They don't score many but don't concede many and didn't give away many opportunities in the previous tie.
"They have good energy in the middle of the park, good experience at the back, quick on the sides and they are a good counter-attack team.
"I think we've got our work cut out as there's a decent level of player there and they look like a team who have confidence from the previous tie."
Analysis: Liam McLeod, BBC Scotland commentator
Aberdeen will hope to avoid the ignominy suffered by fellow Europa League representatives Rangers and St Johnstone and make progress in the competition.
They come up against the unknown quantity of Bosnians Siroki Brijeg and may want to make hay at Pittodrie.
Temperatures have been close to 40 degrees centigrade in Western Bosnia recently ahead of the Dons heading there for next week's second leg.
The black and white of their task is that they will face the seventh best side in Bosnia-Herzigovina, qualifying by virtue of their Bosnian Cup success over Sarajevo.
However, the ejections of their peers by teams from Luxembourg and Lithuania will ensure that no stone is left unturned by Derek McInnes.
Siroki, known as The Blues, are a club steeped in Bosnian/Croat history. Indeed, the Croatian chequy is unmistakable on the club's crest.
They disposed of the seeded Kazakhs Ordabasy in qualifying round one, although it is worth pointing out that the side they defeated were well behind both Astana and Kairat in their league last year, clubs Celtic and Aberdeen have faced in recent times.
Siroki are likely to try to leave Pittodrie with a narrow victory and away goal, but a goal-less draw would suit them.
Their danger men stick out like a sore thumb. Winger Luka Menalo, who will likely come up against Andrew Considine, is a precocious talent and the 20-year-old was Siroki's top scorer last term.
Veteran striker Ivan Krstanovic isn't the hardest working player in the world but can punish on the counter-attack and could cause the same kind of issues the Dons came up against in the shape of Milivoje Novakovic, who gave Maribor an away goal at Pittodrie in the third qualifying round last summer.
