Side have found will to win against Old Firm

chances to beat the Old Firm, you’ve got to try to take them.

“I want to make sure that any time we play against them, that we’ve got 11 players on the pitch at any given time who expect to win. We’ve shown that recently. We’ve still got work to do now.”

Two years on, McInnes is a lot happier with those at his disposal both old and new, and has faith that the message that a draw is not satisfactory, no matter who it is against, has finally got through.

“I think some aren’t here and some have gained confidence from winning against Celtic and being part of a team that wins more regular,” he said. “Don’t forget, a lot of those players have been scared from playing against the Old Firm. They’ve taken sore ones and been on the end of heavy scorelines. “We had to change that. When you play Rangers or Celtic — certainly I’m talking about Celtic before — it was always synonymous with a bad result, or not feeling very good about themselves at the end of it. “So we had to try to change that. By winning games against them, that’s helped. There’s a confidence that we can take them on.” McInnes was keen not to get bogged down in the hysteria surrounding today, instead focusing on the simple matter of two teams contesting a game of football rather than be drawn into the history of the fixture.

With the arrival of Rangers in the league, some thought Mark Warburton’s team would automatically take up the responsibility of Celtic’s title rivals from Aberdeen. McInnes, however, has faith that the winning mentality instilled in his side could be the difference in laying down a marker that Aberdeen are not for budging.

“I think it’s tasty,” he said. “It’s eagerly anticipated by a lot of people, especially our supporters. We’re looking forward to it. It’s a game that offers the same three points as any domestic league game. There are certain games that can give you that feelgood factor more than others. There’s no doubt a win against the Old Firm certainly does that. We’ve felt that in the past when beating Celtic.

“I think we’ve got good experience now. We’ve grown as a team, the European experience, the expectation I’ve spoken about to commit to a real title fight, winning runs and the demands of playing big games.

“I think that’s helped us. The team has a maturity and gained a lot of experience because of that. I can sit here and be confident that we can go and compete because I’ve every confidence in the players.”