McInnes hoping great Sir Alex’s words ring true

ABERDEEN manager Derek McInnes hopes his players will vindicate the prediction of Sir Alex Ferguson when they face Celtic in the Betfred Cup final.

Sir Alex, the most famed predecessor of McInnes, delivered some words of comfort to the Aberdeen boss two years ago after the Dons lost 3-0 to Celtic at the same stage.

The former Scotland and Manchester United boss told McInnes his players would be better-placed to compete in finals the more they play at Hampden.

The Dons were soon back at the national stadium, beating Hibernian in a William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final and pushing Celtic all the way in their second final of the season.

Aberdeen suffered more disappointment at Hampden last campaign when they lost to Motherwell in the Scottish Cup semi-final but they reached their fourth final under McInnes by beating Rangers there in October.

McInnes said: “I always remember Sir Alex saying to me after we lost the 3-0 game against Celtic, that only by revisiting surroundings that players start to feel home and be more capable of delivering a performance.

“He said he had umpteen international players, who had played 400-500 top-flight games, who didn’t turn up in a final. He said sometimes it can happen but by revisiting them you get more familiar with your surroundings.

“It has helped us being here so often in the last wee while. It doesn’t give you any guarantees or real advantage on the day because you have to do all the things we spoke about but I certainly think it doesn’t do any harm.

“It’s good to see that we feel as a club that we kind of belong here and feel at home here.

“I think we are capable of winning a trophy.”