ABERDEEN boss Derek McInnes believes his side will be as fit as they've ever been for their Europa League clash with Burnley.

The Dons have been putting in the work in Cork this week during a training camp, two weeks before the Clarets themselves head to the Irish city for their own training camp.

And McInnes is pleased with the fitness of his players ahead of the first leg of the second qualifying round tie with Burnley at Pittodrie on Thursday, July 26.

"This has been the most I've been able to do with the players in pre-season since I came to the club," he said.

"They have had the benefit of extra rest so we have been able to throw more work at them.

"The way they have tested and the way they have performed shows me that extra rest has allowed them to become fitter and stronger.

"We are not having to condense all the work into the first week like we have in the past.

"In previous years we have just been trying to fire them up quickly so they have not had a pre-season in the true sense. That will benefit them all and will help us going into the European games."

Aberdeen were beaten in Europe by Real Sociedad in 2014 and have gone out in the third qualifying round for the past three seasons.

"Sociedad were a very good side, they finished sixth or seventh in the Spanish league the year we played them," McInnes told the Daily Record.

"Burnley is just as tough – if not tougher – when you look at the league they come out of and the level of player they have.

"We have to hit the ground running against them, we have to have that performance straight away.

"In the past we did well building on it, from Groningen to Sociedad and so on, but this time we have to be at it for the first game. The experience we have had in Europe should help us a lot."