Minnows no match for deadly Dons

ABERDEEN.. 6 NSI RUNAVIK..

DEREK McINNES believes his lockdown breaking players have been punished enough without facing an extra SFA suspension — but says Aberdeen will just have to ‘deal with’ any fresh hammer blow dished out today. Eight Dons players guilty of breaking rules on social distancing will have their cases heard at Hampden today. And McInnes, speaking after last night’s 6-0 Europa League hammering of NSI Runavik, said his men had already been hit hard by hefty club fines and a lambasting by politicians. ‘We don’t know how it’s going to go. If they want to keep punishing my players then so be it, we will have to take it,’ he said. ‘They have been dragged through the mud, kicked from pillar to post and have been fined by the club and haven’t been in a good place for the last few weeks. ‘There is no doubt my players have been punished enough in my eyes. ‘A lot of Scotland have let their guard down and my players were guilty of naivety rather than thinking they were above any rules. ‘The whole of Scottish football took a check when they saw what my players were getting pulled up for — every club in Scotland has not been squeaky clean. ‘My players took a hit, they have been punished, they were fined and it was a high level of money as well — not just a slap on the wrist. ‘If people want to keep punishing them then so be it, we will deal with it. We’ve had to face a lot of things in the last few weeks, we’ve had injuries, suspensions and all the embarrassment of that but, if there is any more punishment to come we will deal with it.’ McInnes was pleased with his team’s performance against the conquerors of Barry Town, saying: ‘It was a very good game for us and the players needed reminded they were good players. Any time you rack up that amount of goals at home and get a clean sheet it’s a pleasing night’s work. ‘I was pleased with their intensity, and we spoke about Runavik being 18 games into the season and what that would give them. We had to play our game naturally, because they are a good possession-based team. We had to be strong and quick.’