Del: I don’t want any players to leave now
BRECHIN..1 ABERDEEN..4
DEREK McINNES is determined to resist renewed attempts by Rangers to sign midfielder Kenny McLean – after vowing to hang on to his stars.
McInnes blooded new boy Kari Arnason – back at Aberdeen after a five-year exile – in the friendly win over Brechin yesterday.
Goals from Scott McKenna, Miles Storey, Arnason and Adam Rooney put them four up before Ally Love’s late consolation strike.
But with the Dons gearing up for the visit of Cypriot side Apollon Limassol in the Europa League on Thursday, McInnes aims to keep his squad together.
He refused to comment directly on fresh reports linking McLean with Ibrox but said: “We’re quite happy where we are with the squad right now.
“We will go into the next round of Europe with the same squad and I’m not looking for any players to leave at this point.
“I don’t see us adding to our squad before Wednesday’s European deadline and the focus has to be on the three big games coming up.
“We have two European games then have to recover from arriving back from Cyprus in the early hours of a Friday to prepare to face Hamilton on the Sunday.”
Iceland star Arnason slotted in at the heart of the Dons defence like he’d never been away.
And McInnes added: “I was pleased to see Kari getting a goal on his return. He looked composed and is certainly in contention for Thursday.”