KENNY McLEAN netted a vital away goal for Aberdeen in Kazakhstan and manager Derek McInnes has backed his players to finish the job at Pittodrie next week.

Aberdeen survived a torrid night and could and should have been down and out if it wasn't for some crucial saves from on-loan keeper Danny Ward.

But they clung on and former St Mirren midfielder McLean netted an all-important away goal to put McInnes's side in a strong position after their 4,000-mile, eight-hour journey to Almaty.

And McInnes is confident his players will go through after a nightmare start where they found themselves two goals down inside the opening 22 minutes.

"We said before the game how important the away goal could be," McInnes said. "It can prove pivotal. Every time we have managed to score an away goal, we have always progressed. I said to them at half time, go and win the second half and I believe we will win the tie.

"If we play in the manner that we did in the second half for 90 minutes then I feel we have an excellent opportunity to get through. We still have it all to do because we are facing a tough opponent, but the players are wishing the game was tomorrow. They are eager to get on with it.

"We didn't start positively enough and I didn't think we were brave enough. We didn't impose ourselves enough on the game. In the second half everyone saw the Aberdeen team that I wanted to see from the first minute. We prepared properly, we were ready for it. We had to be ready for it and braver and now we need to impose ourselves on the game next week.

"I think Kairat are still favourites because we have to score, but we know one goal could be enough. We will have 20,000 fans at Pittodrie and a squad of players who will do everything they can to qualify.

"The response from my players from going two goals down was exactly what I thought it would be. They didn't roll over and they came out fighting. I believe what I said at half time that if we won the second half, which we did, we can be confident we can get the job done in Aberdeen. Kairat will have to play very well at Pittodrie to go through because we will be ready."

Goal hero McLean was thrilled at his impact and wants the Pittodrie fans to back their team into the Europa League play-offs.

He said: "Next Thursday’s going to be a big night for us. The crowd have got behind us in the European games so far and with our fans behind us again it can make a difference – as Kairat’s fans showed tonight. I think at home we can do the same. Last week we got 17,000 and it was a massive factor.

"We’ve lost the game but we’ve given ourselves a great chance of moving forward."

The Dons – backed by 72 hardy fans – got off to the worst possible start after conceding twice early on.

Some quick one-touch football at the edge of the box saw Kairat slice through the Aberdeen defence and Dorde Despotovic cleverly laid the ball off to onrushing Russian midfielder Mikhail Bakaev who took a touch before bursting through and flashing a great finish past Danny Ward to give the home side the lead.

And it got worse two minutes later when Kairat doubled their advantage with a wonder-strike from their captain. There was a real sense of anticipation from the home fans when Bauyrzhan Islamkhan picked up the ball 40 yards from goal and drove forward completely unchallenged by the Aberdeen midfield.

And no wonder, as he pinged a magnificent dipping drive over Ward and into the net.

Every time the Kazakhs attacked Aberdeen looked vulnerable and it took a fine save from Ward with his legs to keep out a low, angled drive from Brazilian Isael Da Silva.

Da Silva once again turned the Aberdeen defence inside out with some brilliant technical skill which sent him free and his ferocious shot was superbly palmed away by a brilliant one-handed stop by Ward.

But the Scots grabbed a lifeline out of nothing with 21 minutes left. On a rare venture upfield, Niall McGinn's cutback was deflected perfectly into the path of fellow sub McLean and he rifled the ball home from close range.

It was just his second goal for Aberdeen after opening his account in Croatia when he grabbed the third goal against Rijeka in the last round. And the goal could go a long way to repaying the £300,000 transfer fee paid to St Mirren.

Ward then made another fine fingertip save from sub Junior Dos Santos and from the resulting corner, Stanislav Lunin's volley bounced up off the ground and cracked the bar. The on-loan Liverpool keeper was Aberdeen's hero and kept them in the tie.