McINNES IS BACKING WRIGHT TO BE REDS’ NEW WING KING

DEREK McINNES is convinced Aberdeen winger Scott Wright is good enough to make the Dons fans forget all about Niall McGinn and Jonny Hayes. The Pittodrie boss watched the youth academy hopeful cause Hamilton Accies no end of problems on a day when he replaced Gary Mackay-Steven in the starting line-up. The £150,000 signing from Celtic was one of four players rested after their exertions in Cyprus last week and Wright made the most of his opportunity. McInnes believes the player, who celebrates his 20th birthday tomorrow, is ready to emerge from the shadows of McGinn who left for Gwangju in South Korea and Hayes who is now at Parkhead. Wright announced his arrival with a hat-trick at Firhill last season but his manager expects far more from him this time around. McInnes said: ‘I see a difference in him. He has taken a lot of confidence from the Partick game. ‘He’s watched Jonny Hayes and Niall McGinn as our wide men for the last four years or so, so it’s been difficult getting him in. ‘It is unrealistic to expect him to be at their level when he is 17, 18, 19 but he has the potential to be that and more. ‘He is someone who will get better with game time. ‘He is friendly with Ryan Christie and I think Ryan being in the team and Scott getting confidence playing with certain players, he is only going to get better. ‘As a one-to-one wide player who can commit people, he is exciting to watch and work with.’ McInnes knew the result was more important than the performance after the defeat against Apollon Limassol in the Europa League qualifier. He added: ‘I think the freshness helped the team get a result but it was not just the fresh players, it was the other ones who had to go again as well. ‘The performance was more than decent.’ Hamilton manager Martin Canning had no complaints about the second-half dismissal of Xavier Tomas — but believes referee Euan Anderson was far too lenient when dealing with the home side. He said: ‘There was a lot that went against us in the game but that’s what happens to smaller clubs when the crowd is against you. ‘I don’t want to see players getting sent off but if you’re going to book my players for persistent fouling, then it has to work both ways.’