Dons set aside thoughts of Hampden glory

Tony Docherty says Aberdeen will not let thoughts of toppling Motherwell at Hampden distract them from more pressing matters at Fir Park tonight.

The Dons face Stephen Robinson’s Steelmen in the semi-finals of the William Hill Scottish Cup a week on Saturday. But before that they travel to Lanarkshire for their penultimate Ladbrokes Premiership match before the top-flight split.

And with the chance to move three points ahead of Rangers in the race for second place, assistant boss Docherty does not want the Pittodrie side taking their eye off the ball.

“The semi-final doesn’t really play a part in our thinking,” Derek McInnes’ right-hand man told RedTV. “We’re on league duty at the moment.

“We know we have this game with Motherwell and then Hearts on Saturday. The most important game is the next one and that’s Motherwell in the league.

“There won’t be a thought about the semi-final at the moment. It’s more important we get the league duty taken care of.

“Motherwell will be the same I’m sure. They still have a slim chance of making the top six so it will be total focus on league matters.”

The Reds roared back from the international break with a 4-1 drubbing of St Johnstone on Saturday.

Ryan Christie and Stevie May both struck before Greg Stewart nabbed a late double and Docherty believes his front men have benefited from extra shooting practice.

He said. “We had put a bit more of a demand on the players over the international break, especially the front players as we asked them to give us a more positive return.

“We certainly got that on Saturday. You could see the rewards of the extra work they put in and the performance was great.”

Robinson has told his players to make sure they do not give up on the top six despite slipping six points behind Hearts.

Motherwell need to beat Aberdeen and St Johnstone and hope the Dons win at Tynecastle, while securing an eightgoal swing on goal difference.

Robinson, who also told his squad to put the cup meeting to the back of their minds, said: “There is still an outside chance of top six for us so we have to make sure we are not left going ‘if only’.

“We have to just make sure we win this game.”

Robinson will give fitness tests to Nadir Ciftci and Charles Dunne.

Tony Docherty: pleased with the response from the front players.