McInnes sure second string can perform
ABERDEEN manager Derek McInnes is sure his decimated squad can still produce results.
The Granite City side will again be without nine players at Hamilton tonight.
McInnes had four young players without any first- team experience on his bench during Sunday’s 4- 0 defeat by Rangers, and the five other substitutes only had one league start between them this season.
Scotland Under- 21 trio Ross McCrorie, Lewis Ferguson and Connor McLennan dropped out because of Covid- 19 issues while Scott Wright and Niall McGinn joined Jonny Hayes, Marley Watkins, Dylan McGeouch and Tomas Cerny on the injury list.
Tonight’s trip to face Scottish Premiership bottom club Hamilton is the second of six away games in seven matches that the visitors face amid their selection problems.
McInnes said: “Even with the difficulties we have, it’s important we recognise we still have a good squad of players, we are still capable of picking up results. And hopefully we will start another unbeaten and winning run on Tuesday.
“We have obvious challenges, a lot of what has been good about the team has been speed, and arguably five of the best performers – McCrorie, Ferguson, Hayes, Wright, Watkins – if you take five key players out of any team then it will have an effect.
“The good thing for me is I know we have better players to come back.
“We have now given the opportunity to ones who have not played as much. It’s a chance for them to show their capabilities.
“And there is no doubt for me that with the personnel we have got available, we can still win games and navigate our way through the next few weeks until we get hopefully something like our strongest squad back.”
McInnes handed 16- year- old Ryan Duncan a debut off the bench at Ibrox.
“It was good to see young Ryan coming on,” he said. “We took him out of the youth bubble to supplement numbers and he has done particularly well over the last month or so training with the first team. A quiet lad but very confident lad.
“He is still young but he has a good frame about him and I do think he’s got the opportunity to be part of things going forward.
“But it’s only a start for him and hopefully next time he is playing in that first- team Aberdeen shirt it’s a winning performance, and hopefully he can be involved in that.”
Meanwhile, Hamilton defender Scott McMann believes they can build on their improved weekend performance and end their losing streak tonight.
Accies suffered a fifth successive defeat on Saturday when they lost 2- 1 against Dundee United at Tannadice.
After conceding 17 goals in three Scottish Premiership matches and losing to League Two Stranraer in the Betfred Cup, head coach Brian Rice employed a new three- man central defence with versatile defender Hakeem Odoffin in central midfield.
And McMann felt far more comfortable in the new set- up.
“Over the past month or six weeks it’s not been good enough and I think on Saturday it was vastly improved from what it has been,” he said. “We looked a lot more organised.
“We were obviously devastated to get beat the way we did but we were encouraged going into Wednesday.”