Air miles are taking their toll
McInnes blames four games in nine days as Aberdeen are made to settle for a point at Pittodrie. By Matthew Lindsay
MANAGERS bemoaning the number of games their team has played and using a punishing fixture list as an excuse for a below-par display is commonplace towards the end of a long hard season.
But after just eight matches? The reason Derek McInnes came up with for Aberdeen failing to perform to their capabilities in their encounter with Hearts yesterday was a startling one at such an early stage in a new campaign.
In fairness to McInnes, whose team had by far the better of their second Ladbrokes Premiership game of the new term, it was a fourth match in nine days for his charges. It definitely showed.
A Europa League qualifier against NK Maribor of Slovenia, a league game against St Johnstone and a Betfred Cup match with Ayr United, all away from home, this month had clearly taken a heavy toll.
With Andrew Considine, whose wife had given birth the night before, and Jonny Hayes, who is out injured, both absent from the starting line-up, Aberdeen failed to produce a performance to match the occasion in front of 13,559 fans.
The fact they kept a clean sheet and picked up a point against rivals who had won their last three meetings last season was some consolation given the difficult circumstances surrounding the game. McInnes expects better, far better, is to come.
“We were clearly the better side,” he said. “We moved the ball about in the first half. But we have got to make more of that good play. I thought we were bright, got in between the lines and brought pace to the game. Niall McGinn, Wes Burns and Peter Pawlett all showed good movement and appetite for the game.
“I always felt the first half was going to be crucial in this one. We had to get ourselves ahead. There was, without question, a clear lack of energy and lack of quality at times in the second half. Play- ers are out on their feet. Graeme Shinnie and Ryan Jack were a real indication for me. Those boys are as fit as any player going. You could see in the last 20 minutes or half an hour they were plodding through the game. That is a consequence of four games in nine days for the majority of players.”
Hearts had been “deeply disappointed” by the SFA judicial panel’s decision on Thursday to ban Jamie Walker for two games for an “act of simulation” in the game against Celtic last Sunday.
The punishment meted out to the winger, who was absent from the squad yesterday, had clearly also incensed the Hearts fans. “There’s only one Jamie Walker,” they chanted as the match got underway. The decision by referee Kevin Clancy to have a word with Hearts manager Robbie Neil- son, who had been unhappy that no penalty was given to his team following a challenge by Shay Logan on Sam Nicholson, was also badly received by the travelling support. There appeared to be, though, nothing in the incident and the match official had been correct to allow play to continue.
Clancy had a busy afternoon and booked no fewer than seven players, five from Hearts.
Neilson, though, anticipates that his team’s crime count will calm down. “We have had quite a few bookings in the first few games of the season,” Neilson said. “But we have played the teams that were first, second and fourth in the league last time around. These games are always high intensity. The players are desperate to beat each other. I expect it to come back down again.”
The Hearts coach was pleased his team had prevented their opponents from scoring after losing 3-2 to St Johnstone in midweek. “A defender’s job first and foremost is to stop people scoring goals,” he said. “On Wednesday we let in three. That is unacceptable. To get a reaction like that today is great.”
I always felt the first half ws going to be crucial in this one. We had to get ourselves in the lead