McInnes determined to take lessons from Hearts into Gers semi-final
ABERDEEN manager Derek McInnes admits he hopes the lessons learned from defeat to Hearts can help the Dons produce a ‘complete’ performance in Sunday’s Betfred Cup semi-final against Rangers.
The Pittodrie outfit failed to recover from a first half that saw the Premiership leaders take control with unanswered goals from Arnaud Djoum and Steven Naismith.
An improved display following the break led to Gary Mackay-Steven scoring a consolation from the penalty spot as McInnes’ side fell 10 points adrift of their Edinburgh counterparts.
However, McInnes insists victory against a rejuvenated Rangers is possible if the recognise what went wrong at Tynecastle.
McInnes, whose team have failed to beat the Ibrox club in their last five matches, said: “It’s going to be a brilliant game and I’m really looking forward to it.
“The build up will be exciting and we’re looking forward to trying to get the club into another final.
“Hopefully the things we can take from the game against Hearts help us for next week.
“I’m looking for a more complete performance, a 90-minute performance and hopefully we start the game more like the way we finished the one against Hearts.
“It wasn’t the wrong team that started at the weekend but we had the wrong mindset at the start of the game and we should have been more ready for what was coming.
“We played with more courage, squeezed the game, took more responsibility and were more aggressive in the second half.
“It was a game of two halves and I thought in the second half we had more positives but we can’t go to Tynecastle now against a stronger team and with the crowd the way they were and only play for 45 minutes and expect to win.
“We wanted a positive result and we spoke about that.”