Tuesday 24 July 2018 18:29, UK
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes has declared he "hates" pre-season ahead of Thursday's Europa League tie with Burnley.
The Dons drew 1-1 with West Brom in their final friendly before the first leg of the second qualifying round match at Pittodrie on July 26.
Aberdeen entered the Europa League at the same stage last season and McInnes is looking forward to leading his side back into competitive action.
"I hate it, pre-season is there to serve a purpose but now we get a real ball out next Thursday and we'll be ready," McInnes told Sky Sports News.
"We wanted the last game (against West Brom) to be as tough as possible, that was in the planning for pre-season.
"So I think that level of opponent sets us up great for the game but I'm just glad pre-season is over.
"We felt going in at this round last year we were a bit under-cooked not having had two competitive games.
"We feel that's always been a benefit in this round when we've had those first-round games, so we wanted it to be a tough game and we got that.
"Darren (Moore) was good enough to bring his team up, they've got a level of player there that can cause any team problems and we had to be fully concentrated."
Aberdeen have never faced Burnley before but they will meet them twice in a week with the second leg at Turf Moor on August 2.
They will then have just three days to prepare for their Scottish Premiership opener at home to Rangers on August 5 live on Sky Sports.
