Aberdeen dismiss claims as ‘nonsense’
ABERDEEN No 2 Tony Docherty has dismissed claims that the Dons deliberately wound up Rangers by plastering pictures of their recent Hampden win all over the Pittodrie corridors as ‘absolute nonsense’.
Ibrox defender Connor Goldson says Steven Gerrard’s side were given extra motivation ahead of Wednesday night’s 4-2 victory when they saw images of Aberdeen’s 1-0 Betfred Cup semi-final victory from October on the walls.
But Docherty, who admitted Dons boss Derek McInnes had words with Gerrard about what he felt were his team’s over-the-top celebrations following the midweek clash, insisted there had been no intent to provoke their visitors beforehand.
‘I’ve got to refute that — it’s absolute nonsense,’ said McInnes’ assistant. ‘The history of the club is so important but we had to build our own history and the first thing we did when we came in was we changed most of the pictures. We kept the most important ones from the past but we constantly change the ones in the corridor. We didn’t do anything specific for that game.
‘There’s ones from the (Betfred) Cup final as well against Celtic. If that’s acted as motivation, I can’t comment on that but we didn’t play any part in putting any pictures up that would upset people.’
Docherty claims the Aberdeen management team were ‘surprised’ by what they felt were the excessive celebrations of the Rangers players and backroom staff after their win on Wednesday.
He confessed that McInnes did have words with Gerrard about the noise they were making but denied the Dons boss stormed into the visitors’ dressing room.
‘We were surprised at the level of celebration,’ said Docherty. ‘Any team is entitled to celebrate, particularly a game as ferocious as that, but we were surprised.
‘Our manager spoke with theirs and that will remain between them. No one went into anyone’s dressing room.
‘There probably was more celebration than we’d seen on any other occasion but it’s not a big thing.
‘We won a game of football (at Hampden and a 1-0 league win at Ibrox on December 5) but once you win that, you focus on the next one. We celebrated and we move on. I don’t think we overdid our celebrations.’
The match exploded early in the second half when Aberdeen defender Scott McKenna and Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos were sent off for a clash between the pair.
The Dons decided not to appeal McKenna’s dismissal but, although Docherty felt there was no injustice there, he claimed the home side should have been awarded a penalty when Rangers keeper Allan McGregor caught Lewis Feguson in the shin while collecting the ball.
‘The manager asked the staff and we thought McKenna merited a red card, so there was no point in appealing,’ said Docherty. ‘If there is an injustice there, then, yes, you appeal it, but we felt both (players) merited red cards.
‘I thought McGregor’s was a penalty kick — what happens beyond that is not my jurisdiction.
‘Our level of performance was good, particularly in the second half. We merited a point. It’s important to focus on the bit that we can affect and the level of performance was good enough for a point.’
McKenna is suspended for tomorrow’s Scottish Cup tie with Queen of the South but Mikey Devlin is fit to start for the first time since injuring his foot in training with Scotland last November.
Goalkeeper Joe Lewis has been a three-time loser in cup finals with the Dons and wants to put that right this season.
‘At Aberdeen, you’re expected to compete and get to the latter stages of the cup competitions,’ he said. ‘We’ve done that fairly frequently in my time here. It’s something we’re looking to do again.’