McInnes’ weather redalert
DEREK McINNES insists he’s more concerned by severe weather alerts than Siroki Brijeg’s “welcome to hell” warning.
The Dons boss made light of the Bosnian side’s striker
Stipo Markovi claiming the Pittodrie side should “expect hell” during tonight’s Europa League second-leg clash which is tied at 1-1.
With baking temperatures expected to be a big problem in Aberdeen’s bid to overturn the loss of an away goal, McInnes admits his main
priority will be the scorching heat and not the home fans.
He said: “I’m terrified – not. We expect a noisy crowd but we have won at bigger venues, like Parkhead and Ibrox. The bigger the venue the more we relish the challenge.
“We’re going to have to withstand pressure and the heat will be a factor in how we approach the game. We’ll discuss water breaks at the UEFA meeting tomorrow.
“The tie is finely balanced. Siroki have the advantage but we feel we can get the goal to apply pressure to them.
“Their supporters and team will feel they’ve done the hard part in getting the away goal and it will be a disaster if they don’t go through but we’re confident we can get a result.
“In terms of the season it won’t shape everything but it is important for us to do as well as we can in Europe financially and for us to keep gaining experience.”
The Dons didn’t train on Siroki’s pitch last night, opting to do so at Pittodrie before making the flight to the Balkans and McInnes insists it’ll be all right on the night.
He said: “It’s something we’ve done before and we don’t have a problem training at home before leaving. We’ll feel the benefit of having played last week as Siroki looked match sharp then.”
McInnes also said his decision to agree a new deal as boss until at least 2020 is an endorsement of the club’s plans for the future.
He said: “My assistant Tony Docherty and I are delighted to sign on again. We feel there is enough energy to deliver everything we want in terms of training facilities and the stadium.”