NO SKIRTING THE ISSUE — McINNES IS EAGER TO KEEP UP WINNING TREND
McInnes eager not to let Dons be first Scots club to lose to Cypriots
HE colourful former Aberdeen manager Ebbe Skovdahl once had some memorable advice on the dangers of being overly reliant on statistics.
‘Statistics are like mini-skirts,’ the Dane quipped. ‘They give you good ideas but they hide the most important things.’
That same sentiment rang true yesterday at Pittodrie as current Dons boss Derek McInnes reacted to the fact that a Cypriot team has never beaten Scottish opposition in European football.
In the eight matches contested between clubs from the two countries, seven have been won by Scottish sides, with Rangers drawing the other 0-0 away to Anorthosis Famagusta in 1995.
The aggregate scoreline across the four two-legged ties to date reads 22-2 in favour of the Scots.
However, just as these are more politically correct times than when Skovdahl made his infamous statistics quote, depressing results in Europe in recent years have shown that for Scottish football, the glorious past is now a foreign country.
And as McInnes (right) aims to steer his side to the Europa League play-off round for the first time of his successful tenure, he warned that Apollon Limassol will provide the toughest of tests for his team tonight.
‘No Cypriot team has ever beaten a Scottish team in Europe? Thanks for that,’ he deadpanned.
‘The fact is Apollon have qualified twice in the last four seasons for the Europa League group stage.
‘And they have beaten some more than decent sides in doing so. Fate has it they have not faced a Scottish team during that time but they are a team progressing.
‘But I’d like to think they know they are going to have to play well to empty us out of this tournament.
‘At this stage of the competition previously, Real Sociedad were a good couple of notches above us — and there was no disgrace in that.
‘But the other two teams we faced in the third round — Kairat Almaty and Maribor — it was thin lines between us getting through. It was harsh we got beaten by those teams and no one can tell me any different.
‘But the reality in these cup competitions is that you are in or out — and it is up to us to find a way through to the next round.
‘It will be close over the two legs but, hopefully, we can use our experience to try to find a way through the tie.’
Underscoring the fact that the days of ‘Cypriot whipping boys’ are long gone, McInnes expects Apollon to possess the most potent attacking threat of any visiting European side during his four year reign at Pittodrie.
‘We’ve come up against a decent level of opponents at this stage of the competition before, in Real Sociedad, Maribor and Kairat Almaty.
‘But of all of them, Apollon are probably the most attacking team we will have played. ‘It’s in their style to ask questions and impose themselves. ‘They are used to scoring and creating chances and I think they will come here believing they can score. ‘They play with a front four effectively and they commit bodies forward.
‘They have two raiding full-backs, two wide players who get into the box and a centre-forward who asks questions of centre-backs. They are a very capable team and they have goal threats all over the pitch.
‘I’m always reluctant to single out individuals but their Brazilian captain Alex links the play for them. He makes them tick.
‘It should be a very open game. In terms of standard, they’re definitely a couple of notches up from Siroki Brijeg, who we faced in the last round.’
The biggest lesson McInnes has learned in European football during his time in Aberdeen is the importance of not conceding at Pittodrie.
‘When we have lost a goal here, it has normally proved pivotal,’ he nodded.
‘We want to take full advantage of being at home in front of a sell-out crowd. But I genuinely feel you don’t need to win the tie
at home. We’re not intending to be out of the tie either, though.
‘We haven’t won too many European games at home but we’ve only lost one and that was Real Sociedad in the last minute when we were chasing the game.
‘A lot of our best results in Europe have come on the road. We are as comfortable playing away as we are at home.’
McInnes has a decision to make on whether recent signing Kari Arnason should play in central defence against Apollon tonight.
The Iceland international has great knowledge of the game in Cyprus after recently signing from Omonia Nicosia but was ineligible for the last round against Siroki Brijeg.
It is also understood that former Celtic and Wigan striker Shaun Maloney remains on Aberdeen’s radar despite the forward flagging up an injury concern prior to undergoing a medical at the club.
For McInnes, though, the sole target occupying his thoughts right now is steering his side past this latest challenge and into the play-off round.
‘We are all determined to do as well as we can in this competition,’ he said.
‘We know what is ahead of us domestically in cup competitions and what is expected of us to compete in the Premiership again, and that will be a challenge. But that can wait for now.
‘We are just focusing on these two games and doing all we can to get the job done.’