Rooney reckons Gers’ extended lay-off could help in Pittodrie side’s bid to topple Ibrox men at third time of asking
ADAM ROONEY is confident Aberdeen can overcome Rangers at the third time of asking this season at Ibrox on Wednesday night following their warm-weather training break in Dubai and morale-boosting win over St Mirren.
Derek McInnes’s men strolled to a resounding 4-1 triumph over the top team in the Ladbrokes Championship in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup at Pittodrie on Saturday.
Rooney and his team-mates return to league action in midweek to take on opponents who are currently three points behind them in the Premiership table and whose cup game against Fraserburgh was postponed.
The Irishman, who scored the opening goal at the weekend to take his tally for the season to seven, feels that going three and a half weeks without a competitive fixture might impact on their opponents’ performance.
“The boys had a good break and have come back refreshed,” he said. “We got a lot of good work into us over in Dubai. We put in a good performance on Saturday and got the rustiness out of us. Hopefully we can now kick on.
“It was good to get the St Mirren game played, to get through and to get rid of the rustiness. I thought in the second half we were good.
“Rangers not having a game could possibly work in our favour, but they had their own tournament over in Florida. Anyway, we don’t worry too much about the other teams. It is all about what we can do on the day. We know if we play like we are capable then we can win the game.”
Meanwhile, Rooney has admitted the disappointment of losing to Celtic in the last minute of the Scottish Cup final last year is spurring Aberdeen on in the competition.
The 29-year-old also confessed he has a personal point to prove in the tournament having been overlooked for the starting line-up at Hampden back in May.
“It was very disappointing last season,” he said. “We lost to a team who went undefeated but we lost to the last kick of the ball basically. The way we lost it and finished the season was very disappointing. We try and use disappointments to motivate us.
“It dragged on because it was the last game of the season. We were left thinking what could we have done differently and we would have enjoyed things a lot more if we had won. It is part and parcel of disappointment and you need to use that as motivation.
“The gaffer touched on it before the game and using that disappointment to drive us on. We have to use that to show we can get there again and hopefully go one better.
“Every player the manager has brought in he has spoken to them about the demands of the club and how we want to win silverware.
“You want to play in the finals. To get there you want to start in those big games. The boys who started will remember the display and walking out but for the others it was a disappointment. It was disappointing, but you can’t dwell on it because you could be called upon to go on at any time. The disappointment after that was losing to the game.
“There aren’t too many of us left who lifted the League Cup [with a penalty shoot-out win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle in 2014]. That was special for the club and the entire city and we still tell the lads about the turn out we had coming through the city on the bus after we won it.
“That is what we want to do again because as a player that is what you remember. For the club, we would all love to do that, but we are still a long, long way away from that.”
Meanwhile, Rooney has admitted the poor quality of the Pittodrie playing surface, which was criticised by McInnes after the win over St Mirren, had prevented Aberdeen from playing their natural game.
“There is not a lot the boys can do about it,” he said. “It is getting battered a bit by the weather. There is not a lot the groundsman can do either because it is the same all over the country. We have a lot of players who like to get on the ball, run with it and pass it. The better the pitch the easier it is to do that, but as players we just get on with whatever is thrown at us.”