Jim Goodwin praised his Aberdeen players’ “attitude and application” after Christian Ramirez’s second-half double gave the Dons a 2-0 win in their opening Premier Sports Cup Group A game against Peterhead.

The League One outfit made life tough for the visitors before Ramirez converted a penalty in the 63rd minute after Matt Kennedy was knocked to the ground inside the area by defender Jack Brown.

The Pittodrie striker then headed in a Marley Watkins cross 10 minutes later to seal the points and Goodwin was satisfied with the 90 minutes overall.

The former Alloa and St Mirren manager told Premier Sports: “First and foremost we are delighted with the end result.

“We would have liked a few more goals and I have to give credit to the young Peterhead goalkeeper (Jack Newman), I think he deserved his man-of-the-match award today.

“Credit to Jim McInally and all his players, they were very well organised.

“I have been that part-time manager in the past before where you are playing against Premiership opposition and you want to keep it compact and frustrate them and they certainly did that in the first half.

“So well done to Peterhead, but ultimately I am happy with the attitude and application of my players.

“It is never easy. You are on a hiding to nothing in these games.

“We are expected to win and thankfully we got the result.

“Like I said, we would have liked more goals, but the clean sheet was important too. All in all, I think it was a decent day.”

Goodwin hopes Ramirez has shown the way to goal early in the season for his fellow forward-thinking team-mates.

The Irishman said: “That’s the message we have given to all the attacking players during this League Cup campaign.

“It is an opportunity to get some goals early on in the campaign, to get some confidence and hopefully get some momentum going into the league campaign.

“So really, really pleased with the attitude first and foremost and, of course, the two goals was excellent.”