WE’LL TAKE HEART FROM THE HURT
McGinn calls on Dons to use painful past against Celts to win Betfred final
NIALL McGINN insists Aberdeen will use their double dose of Hoops Hampden heartache from two seasons ago to inspire them to Betfred Cup glory.
The Dons winger admitted losing two finals in a season, when they suffered treble hell at the hands of Celtic after finishing runners-up in every competition, was a painful experience.
But McGinn says the Reds can remind themselves of the hurt along with the confidence from beating Rangers in the semi-final to lift the League Cup on December 2.
Lewis Ferguson’s late header on Sunday earned Aberdeen their first win over either of the Old Firm at a neutral venue in Glasgow for 23 years.
Now McGinn wants to follow that up and add to the winner’s medal he picked up four years ago when Derek McInnes led the Pittodrie side to victory with a penalty shootout win over Inverness Caley at Parkhead.
The Dons were well beaten after going down 3-0 to Celtic in the Betfred Cup Final in November 2016 and Tom Rogic’s injury-time winner in the Scottish Cup Final later that season was an agonising way to lose. But McGinn, who left for a stint in South Korea after that final, said: “We have just got to take confidence from beating Rangers but also use the heartache of losing finals before to Celtic.
“We want to use that hurt to our advantage.
“We are looking forward to the game in December. We know it will be difficult. Celtic are a top side.
“They have maybe not started the season as well as they would have liked but it’s a cup final and anything can happen. We have been fortunate enough at Aberdeen that we have had the chance to play in semi-finals and finals.
“A lot of players don’t get that chance to get back to finals and make amends.”
McGinn admitted Aberdeen weren’t at their best on Sunday against the Light Blues. But he reckons Steven Gerrard’s side ran out of ideas after the Dons soaked up all the pressure before Ferguson’s 79th-minute bullet header.
The Reds have finished ahead of Rangers in the league in the two seasons since the Ibrox side returned to the top flight.
That is despite having a smaller budget and McGinn admitted it was another massive result against the club who failed in their attempt to lure Dons boss McInnes to Govan last term after flop Pedro Caixinha was sacked.
McGinn said: “Celtic and Rangers have always been the two biggest clubs in Scotland.
“We can’t compete with their budget and the following they have.
“But we’ve always been a big club and we’ve gone about our business well in the league, cups and European matches.
“We’ve put this club on the map and Sunday was a day to remember.
“We probably always feel
We probably always feel written off but we take confidence from beating an improved Rangers side NIALL McGINN
we’re written off, whether it’s the media or people outside this club, but credit to the fans who came down and sang from first minute to last.
“Sunday was unbelievable. Days like that are why you play football. It probably wasn’t the greatest of spectacles and there were not too many chances in the game.
“Rangers had maybe one shot on target but to a man we worked hard defensively and when the chance came Fergie stood up to be counted and got the winner.
“We could’ve done better in the first half but we knew the longer the game went on, the more of a chance we had. In the second half Rangers looked a wee bit tired towards the end and ran out of ideas.
“They had one shot on target and we had the crucial moment. Semi-finals are always tough but we have to take confidence from beating an improved Rangers side who have started the season well and have done well in Europe.
“It is a massive scalp for us and we now have to dust ourselves down and look forward to Hamilton in the league in our next game.”
Aberdeen are sitting eighth in the Premiership after an unconvincing start to their league campaign but McGinn hopes their semi-final win can kickstart their season.
The Northern Ireland star, 31, said: “It has been a stop-start season but games like Sunday can only give us confidence.
“It has been an interesting start to the season. Hearts have done really well, Hibs are strong again and Rangers are stronger than they were.
“We are strong too and Kilmarnock are doing well again. It’s going to be an interesting league with everyone beating everyone.”