McGhee was not too downbeat after the defeat at Ibrox

Mark McGhee saw enough from his Aberdeen team in the 3-1 defeat at Ibrox to give him hope for the future.

"We are not entirely despondent about it," said McGhee after a match in which he had introduced youngsters Fraser Fyvie, Jack Grimmer and Paul Marshall.

"There were a lot of positives. We had a lot of young players out there at the end and these are boys we are hoping will come back here and win.

"We brought them here tonight to give them experience."

The Dons were two goals down, thanks to strikes by Irishmen Steven Davis and Kyle Lafferty, but pulled one back through Darren Mackie after 68 minutes to put the result in the balance for a spell.

Kenny Miller added a third for Rangers and at that point McGhee made a trio of substitutions.

"It's a wonderful place to make your debut," said McGhee, referring to 16-year-old Grimmer's first outing in the top team, which made him the youngest player to feature in a Scottish Premier League match.

"We've got a lot of hope for these young players, but we have to build a solid base around them, a bit of strength, a bit of ability that can help these young lads show what they are really about."

McGhee added: "You've got Peter Pawlett as well, who has been injured for most of the season and who we think is a terrific prospect; you've got (Michael) Paton, Fraser Fyvie. Young Grimmer is a year or 18 months behind these boys."

Aberdeen tried their best to contain their league-leading hosts in a fast-paced first half, and gradually got to grips with the match.

The attitude of his players at Ibrox will have pleased McGhee, but the Dons manager insists there was additional element that helped his team.

"There was another factor in the game - the pitch," he told BBC Scotland.

"It's not a coincidence that we played better football. You are able to pass the ball, take your eye off the ball.

"The pitch is absolutely magnificent and we all enjoyed coming here and playing on it, even though we lost.

Tonight puts us in good heart and with a really good chance of taking this on to win our next game at home Aberdeen manager Mark McGhee

"That has been a factor in the quality of games I have watched, not only our own."

Aberdeen are in eighth place in the SPL with six matches to go, but McGhee is warning against complacency, fearing they could yet be caught by basement side Falkirk.

"If we show the spirit and determination that we showed in a lot of the game tonight, there should be no danger," he said.

"But I would be arrogant and blind if I didn't concede that with six games to go and only nine points ahead, there are a lot of points to play for.

"We have to get as many points in the bag as quickly as we can. Tonight puts us in good heart and with a really good chance of taking this on to win our next game at home."

In that match on Sunday, the Dons take on St Johnstone, who may yet pip Hearts to the top six.

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