THE ONE THAT GOT A MAY
CUP COUNTDOWN WELL v ABERDEEN Del regrets missing out on Moult – but so happy that he got to sign Stevie
IF Derek McInnes got his way Louis Moult would be leading the Aberdeen line in their Betfred Cup quarter-final against Motherwell at Fir Park tomorrow night.
But while the Dons boss might be frustrated that the Steelmen resisted his £400,000 bid for the striker a couple of months ago he’s pleased he persuaded Stevie May to swap Preston for Pittodrie.
Motherwell gaffer Steve Robinson blanked two Aberdeen offers for Moult with the final one – £400,000 – falling short of their half-million pound valuation of a player who seems to improve with every game.
He’s hit five goals in six starts in the current league campaign, underlining why McInnes pushed as hard as he could to make him part of his reshaped squad.
But the Reds boss refuses to look back and, in £300,000 ex-St Johnstone attacker May, he believes he has the right man up front. He said: “I think it was key to hold on to Moult and Motherwell have done well to do that.
“It’s similar to the Northern Ireland set-up as they have brought in players to go with a system where they go with five at the back with two centre forwards.
“Holding on to Moult was good business for them because he is key to the way they want to play.
“They engage their centre forwards quickly then get forward and support with good fitness and physicality.
“Steve Robinson has done a good job and they are getting more and more confident as their recent results show.
“They will be pleased with their start and they are certainly a team that let you know they are there so we have to be ready for that.
“In their front two, and especially with Moult, they have a real goalscoring threat.
“We made an enquiry and put an offer in but it fell short of what Motherwell were looking for so we moved on. They put the offer into the public domain and I had to respond to that but ultimately what we offered wasn’t enough.
“Motherwell deserve a lot of credit and are to be commended for fighting hard to keep hold of him as he is very important for them.
“Moult and May have different qualities but Stevie is someone who is still young and is only going to get better and better and it’s similar with Louis.”
McInnes, disappointed at dropping two points to Kilmarnock last weekend, hopes his team can throw off the lethargy they showed in that game.
He’s been pleased, however, with the contribution May has made and that he has been able to lighten the load on Adam Rooney.
He added: “There’s been an overreliance on Adam in the past and when he was out injured a couple of seasons ago that impacted on us.”
Meanwhile, midfielder Greg Tansey will play through the pain barrier as he awaits surgery on a hernia problem.
The ex-Inverness Caley Thistle man will not have the problem operated on until the international break.
McInnes said: “He’ll be available for both Motherwell matches this week and maybe the St Johnstone game depending on how we are fixed with the squad.”