WE’RE DON IN ALREADY
Del says his stars are exhausted after glut of games
Derek McInnes reckons Aberdeen should be excused for their part in a dismal stalemate – because they are running on empty.
The Dons have completed an exhausting schedule of four games in nine days – and their manager admits it is starting to show.
Neither keeper had a save to make in a forgettable Pittodrie clash.
McInnes said: “There was a lack of quality at times because some of them are clearly out on their feet.
“Graeme Shinnie and Ryan Jack are real indications for me as they are as fit as any player going.
“You see them plodding through the game in the last half hour.
“That’s just a consequence of playing four games in nine days.
“We tr ied to freshen it up but Andy Considine wa s with his wife in hospital all night and got to bed at 7am so I had to rule him out when he was going to start. “When we were chasing the game in that last half hour, when we usually throw everything at teams at Pittodrie, there was a lack of energy. “I felt for my players. They tried to give more than physically possible. We need fresh minds and legs.” McInnes claimed a point was fair to both sides, although the draw leaves Aberdeen and Hearts winless two games in to the league campaign. He said: “I always felt getting a goal in the first half was going to be crucial. There are normally goals in these games but from our point of view we were clearly the best side. “We deserved to get in at the break ahead bu t Hearts had enough moments in the second half to deserve a point.
“It was two teams who looked a bit tired but it was two teams who were doing their best to win the game.
“The positive is that’s two cleansheets from a side that was losing goals at the end of last season.”
Dons set the early tempo and carved the first chance when Peter Pawlett’s cross was nodded wide by Jayden Stockley.
Shinnie fired wide then it needed a fine tackle by John Souttar to halt Pawlett in his tracks after 10 minutes.
All of the traffic was towards the Hearts goal and next Niall McGinn’s shot was deflected over the bar.
Jack was lucky to escape a card from ref Kevin Clancy after a twofooted tackle on Tony Watt.
Callum Paterson had the Jambos’ first chance in 17 minutes but he dragged his effort off target. The bar bailed out Hearts next from Wes Burns’ header after McGinn’s deep cross.
Another reckless challenge on Watt, this time by Shinnie, was again ignored by the ref.
And it seemed inevitable that the first name in the book was Watt for a trip on Shinnie. Faycal Rherras soon joined him on a yellow for foolishly kicking the ball away. The card count continued to rise and Pawlett and Arnaud Djoum saw yellow for misdemeanours. Clancy had just completed the paperwork before McGinn shot just over – but the stats show there wasn’t a shot on target from either side in the first hour of play. A brilliant block from the excellent Anthony O’Connor deflected a shot from Watt into the arms of Dons keeper Joe Lewis as Hearts went in search of the sucker punch. Pawlett f lashed a header wide and it was as near as the Dons would come to finding a winner. Igor Rossi, Prince Buaben and Shinnie were also booked. There was time for Watt to blaze over in the final seconds of the match with the goal at his mercy and in that moment the story of a dismal encount er was summed up.