BREAK WILL BENEFIT McGINN SAYS BOSS

ABERDEEN manager Derek McInnes hopes a two-week winter break will lead to the club getting the best out of Niall McGinn.

The Northern Ireland international has been on the bench regularly in the last month, with the Dons manager believing t he midfielder’s performances have been affected by fatigue due to a near yearround calendar after his international and club commitments.

McGinn came off the bench to score in his side’s 2-1 defeat by Ross County at Dingwall on Saturday, and McInnes hopes the break will revitalise him.

The Dons manager said: “He brought a spark to our play, one which maybe wasn’t there against St Johnstone last week but there were reasons for that.

“You can see what he is capable of from what he did in the 40 minutes he was on the pitch against Ross County.

“It’s difficult for Niall at present as we’ve got a tired player there and we have to try to manage his games between now and the twoweek break in January.”

The defeat in Dingwall leaves Aberdeen seven points adrift of Rangers as the race for second place in the Premiership intensifies but McInnes is staunch in his belief the Dons will respond strongly.

He said: “Ultimately it is the resolve that matters but the performance, certainly from a lot of players, was decent.

“We have opportunities to win points and we are still capable of being that team which goes on a run.”