McInnes insists Wright won’t exit in cheap deal

DEREK McINNES has warned Rangers that Scott Wright won’t be allowed to leave Aberdeen on the cheap this month. The Pittodrie boss praised the Ibrox club for the professional manner in which they have informed the Dons of their interest in signing the 23-year-old attacker. However, with Wright a key member of his team, McInnes insisted Rangers will have to meet Aberdeen’s valuation if they want to jump to the front of a queue of English clubs keen on landing the player on a free in the summer. Whether that involves a satisfactory fee — potentially minus the sum due to Rangers to make Ross McCrorie’s loan permanent this summer — or a deal that includes a fringe Ibrox player heading north, McInnes says it must suit Aberdeen, or Wright will remain in the Granite City. He said: ‘Rangers are one of the clubs that have shown interest in Scott. They came through the front door, which I’m grateful for. ‘I spoke to Steven (Gerrard) on Monday and there have been discussions at boardroom level. ‘In an ideal world, we will get a good offer for him — whether it’s from Rangers or anyone else — and we get something in return for all our work with Scott. ‘That would be the best-case scenario but it has to be a good offer for us. ‘When you’ve got a player who is out of contract at the end of the season, it makes sense if you try and get a good offer for him. But he’s a key player and, if we don’t get a good offer, then he remains part of the team.’ McInnes has been resigned to losing Wright since talks over a new contract stalled in October. But he does not expect any potential deal with Rangers to happen this week, with Wright included in the Aberdeen squad for tonight’s Premiership match at Livingston, which was postponed on December 30 due to freezing conditions. ‘I know Scott said he was leaving his options open but we didn’t think he was going to be an Aberdeen player next season,’ said McInnes. ‘When we made our offer in October, we never really got anything back (from Wright and his agent) in terms of the money not being right. ‘So we knew financially it wasn’t about the money and I’d kind of resigned myself to the fact he was leaving. ‘He’s been a big part of some of our better performances this season. It would be foolish of us to ignore that while we are still paying his wages and while we still have him here. ‘I’ve got to be mindful that he’s a starter in my team and he’s playing well. I can’t ignore that.’ Meanwhile, David Martindale admits he was ‘frustrated’ by the delay in deciding whether he passes the fit-and-proper test to be Livingston’s manager. But the convicted drug dealer admitted it was ‘understandable in the current climate’. A hearing was cancelled on Monday as the SFA dealt instead with a three-week suspension of football below the Championship. Martindale, whose team are looking for a ninth consecutive win tonight when they host Aberdeen, said: ‘There were bigger fish to fry. I’ve not got a problem with that. It’s just a wee bit frustrating.’