Nicky Devlin believes beleaguered Aberdeen gave their frustrated supporters a glimpse of their potential in Thursday’s 3-2 Conference League defeat by Shakhtar Donetsk.

The Dons have come under heavy fire for a dismal start to their Premiership campaign in which they have taken just one point and failed to score a goal in their six matches.

But Jimmy Thelin’s team went some way to building bridges with their fans as they were applauded off following a spirited display against the assured Ukrainians.

“Ultimately we got beat, so it was a bit of a disappointment, but I think for large spells the performance was better against a very good side,” said full-back Devlin, who scored the Reds’ second goal. “There were definitely positives to take from it.

“Obviously there’s a chance (at 3-1) that you maybe go and concede four, five, six, with the way it’s gone for us so far this season, so there was a lot of character shown and you could see at the end the reaction we got off the supporters. That shows you maybe everything you need to know about how much they probably appreciated the effort.

“Ever since I’ve been here, if you give the supporters something to get behind,...