Coyle: Don’t be cup set by past
OWEN COYLE insists Derek McInnes must make his Aberdeen players forget about their double dose of Hampden heartache against Celtic.
The Dons went down to the Hoops in both domestic cup finals two seasons ago as well as finishing runners-up in the league to the Invincible Treble winners.
McInnes has lost 10 of his 11 meetings with Brendan Rodgers and his only win came in a dead rubber for Celts in the final league game of last season.
Now the Reds face the Hoops again at the National Stadium as they look to end Rodgers’ bid to win a seventh straight trophy since arriving in Scotland.
Coyle had McInnes as a player at St Johnstone and was then succeeded by him at McDiarmid Park upon leaving for Burnley.
Aberdeen suffered a 3-0 defeat at Motherwell last week and Coyle said: “Physically they are in a good place but the mental side is going to be huge.
“They have lost cup finals to Celtic but as Derek will stress to them, you can’t affect that now.
“I speak to Derek quite a bit. It is a transitional season with some of the players they have lost.
“He’ll be raging after the Motherwell loss but getting to a cup final, it’s a big opportunity.”
Owen Coyle was speaking at a William Hill media event. William Hill is a proud sponsor of Scottish football and the Scottish Cup.