Del: Sub no slight on May

ABERDEEN striker Stevie May was replaced at half-time in Sunday’s Scottish Cup victory but Derek McInnes insists it was not a slight on his performance.

With the game balanced at 0-0 at the break, boss McInnes substituted May for winger Niall McGinn against Queen of the South.

Northern Ireland cap McGinn had an immediate impact when scoring the opening goal inside two minutes of his introduction in the 4-1 win.

The 31-year-old also pitched in with two assists to secure the Man-of-theMatch award in just 45 minutes.

M c I n n e s , h o w e v e r, insists taking off May was purely a tactical decision as he was happy with the striker’s performance.

McInnes said: “It was no reflection on Stevie May’s performance, him coming off.

“It was no slight on Stevie’s performance as he was doing fine in the game.

“But I just felt we needed to stretch Queen of the South’s back four a bit more.

“Then we could get Greg Stewart and Graeme Shinnie closer to Sam Cosgrove.

“People think that when you go with two strikers it is automatically more attacking.

“But I thought we had more control and gave them more problems to deal with in the second half.

“Our performance in the second half showed me it was the right shape as everyone looked far more comfortable within that.”

Stevie May