SHINNIE ACCEPTS OLD FIRM FLAK

GRAEME SHINNIE admits Aberdeen’s players cannot complain about receiving flak for their painful record against the Old Firm. A 2-0 loss at Ibrox on Wednesday means Derek McInnes’ side have suffered an aggregate score of 13-1 from five defeats against Rangers and Celtic this term. The accusation among some Pittodrie fans is that their team can freeze when confronted by either of the Glasgow clubs. ‘You need to take it,’ insisted Pittodrie captain Shinnie. ‘We are the ones who go out on the pitch and we have been losing too much. ‘You need to take it — criticism comes when you don’t win football games at Ibrox and at Celtic Park. We won at Ibrox last season and it was a good feeling, but we’ve not been good enough at either venue this season. ‘We need to do better. We’ve not taken our chances and we’ve not scored enough. And we need to stop giving away sloppy goals. ‘It’s very frustrating. It’s easy for me to talk, but it wasn’t good enough again. ‘We need to be more clinical at both ends of the pitch. ‘Even when Rangers scored their second goal, we had four or five clear-cut chances and one of them had to go in. ‘I can’t put my finger on why. We get ourselves into areas. We beat St Mirren 4-1 (last Saturday) without playing well — but we were clinical. We should have been more like that against Rangers and made a fight of it.’ Aberdeen have now dropped to third, behind Rangers on goal difference, but Shinnie retains belief they can finish as Celtic’s nearest challengers. ‘We have good talent in the squad, we know that,’ he said. ‘It’s just about putting it together and playing well and taking chances. First and foremost, being clinical at the back, being ruthless and not giving teams a sniff. ‘We need to pick ourselves up and go again on Saturday against Kilmarnock.’ Meanwhile, the Dons have rejected a third offer from Hull City for Scott McKenna. City manager Nigel Adkins was at Ibrox on Wednesday night to watch the Scotland Under-21 defender play the full 90 minutes. It’s understood the Sky Bet Championship club followed up with another offer — having had bids worth up to £300,000 rejected during the winter break — but Pittodrie boss McInnes remains determined not to sell.