Criticism won’t faze Dons boss

Aberdeen manager Derek Mcinnes insists he can handle the criticism which is coming his way and believes he can be trusted to deliver at Pittodrie.

The Dons boss has been criticised from sections of his club’s support and the media for his side’s performance in the 5-0 defeat at Rangers last weekend.

But he believes his track record at Pittodrie shows why he and his coaching staff can be relied upon to build momentum at the club again.

He said: “When you work for a club where there is demand, there is always more noise when you don’t meet the demand.

“When you lose a couple of sore ones like we have in the last couple of games, you expect a level of criticism. That doesn’t affect what I do.

“It’s the same when we go on winning runs and everybody is full of praise – ‘your team’s this and your team’s that and how good it is’ – I think it’s important that we try to be balanced and get on with it.

“We’ve got the whole season ahead of us and now we’ve just got to trust what we do. We’ve worked a way for a certain period of time and we’ve always got to where we want to get to.

“Ideally we’d like more trophies but by and large the consistency that every squad I’ve had has been very good.

“We can be trusted about our work. Last season was the first year we didn’t get to 70 points. We got 67 which was disappointing for us.

“We started the season slow but in terms of league business, we’re in a better position than we were.

“We know we’re a team that if we just knuckle down and get our strongest team on the park, we know we’re a team that can go on winning runs and unbeaten runs.

“The evidence is there, we’ve done it for six-and-a-half years. We can do it again.”

Hibernian visit Pittodrie today for a game where both sides need a win. More criticism will inevitably follow should Aberdeen fail to beat Hibs but Mcinnes is staying strong.

He said: “The criticism has no bearing on me. I would rather people were speaking positively about my team.

“Any time you’ve had a disappointment, work harder, give more. Keep trying to lift others.”