Victory against Rangers is only start for greedy Dons

Premiership: Increased options give manager McInnes reason to believe

Aberdeen came through a defining week of their season emboldened by three confidence-boosting victories, but manager Derek McInnes has already warned his players to avoid being caught up in the hype surrounding the 2-1 win against Rangers.

There is a tendency for the narrative that surrounds the Dons to have the Pittodrie club either heading towards glory or catastrophe – and there is little room in between.

Before last Sunday’s 3-1 win at Dundee, there was a growing murmur of discontent about Aberdeen’s lacklustre start to the season.

One win in the opening five matches had prompted a section of Aberdeen supporters to ponder whether this was going to be a season of toil.

A series of vital, late winning goals has enveloped Pittodrie in that fuzzy, feel-good factor once again.

The Dons are back in second in the Scottish Premiership, delivered a home victory against Rangers in front of a sold-out Pittodrie and will be highly fancied to take care of Championship club Morton next month when the sides meet with a place in the Betfred Cup final up for grabs.

After such a series of uplifting results, it may be churlish to suggest there should be any scope for criticism, but McInnes will know his team made it through three stern examinations without reaching top gear.

Against Dundee, the introduction of Jayden Stockley and Wes Burns was necessary to prevent a fourth stalemate of the season with a late Kenny McLean penalty giving added gloss to the eventual 3-1 result.

Thursday’s quarter-final with St Johnstone was a largely forgettable affair until the one moment of quality in the final minute when Adam Rooney headed home a Graeme Shinnie cross to ensure the Dons progressed to the final four of the Betfred Cup.

And on Sunday, Rangers felt mightily aggrieved to leave Pittodrie with nothing to show for their efforts.

They enjoyed 59% possession and dominated play for large spells, but were toothless in attack.

Aberdeen, by contrast, were ruthless with James Maddison’s stunning 90th-minute free kick capping a dream week for the Dons.

McInnes, however, will be hoping for a more complete performance when his side travels to Kilmarnock this weekend to face Lee Clark’s men who will be licking their wounds after a 6-1 drubbing at Parkhead on Saturday at the hands of champions Celtic.

The Dons weren’t at their best during the mother of all weeks, so what made the crucial difference? The answer is in the depth of squad McInnes has assembled for this season’s campaign.

The Aberdeen manager learned a valuable lesson in the second half of last season when his side’s title challenge ran out of steam.

When results started to go against the Dons in the business end of the campaign and attacker Rooney picked up an untimely thigh injury, McInnes had few options available to freshen things up.

But this season when he needs a game-changer, he has the likes of Stockley, Burns, Miles Storey and Maddison waiting in the wings.

It is doubtful whether the squad that ended last season would have made it through the past three games without coming unstuck somewhere.

This time round McInnes has bolstered his pack and is now able to chop and change his team without reducing its strength.

The three winning goals scored by Stockley, Rooney and Maddison came from players who had not started the match.

It remains difficult to imagine Rooney being usurped by Stockley or Storey as first-choice forward, but McInnes has given himself options and his key players aren’t relied on to produce the goods week after week.

And the Aberdeen manager believes that stronger squad is the reason why his team will be able to go the distance this time around.

He said: “From my perspective bringing Wes Burns on – and having that option to give their centre halves something else to think about in the last 15 minutes against Rangers – was telling.

“We’ve not always been able to do that.

“My substitutes played a part in the game and that’s been clear in our last three games.

“It was good to beat a team of Rangers’ quality and it was a good day for our football club, but it was only three points.

“The club was at its best with a full house and supporters who were right up for the game.

“If we could generate that every week I’d take it because the supporters enjoyed it and they should enjoy beating a team such as Rangers.

“But it’s the same three points next week at Kilmarnock so we won’t get carried away.

“It was a good week and the match against Rangers was always going to be our toughest challenge, but we’ve overcome it.

“It takes different ways to win a game. But if James Maddison wasn’t on the pitch maybe it would have ended 1-1 and we’d be bemoaning the fact we only played for 45 minutes.

“But the players deserve so much credit. Some of them were running on empty by the end on Sunday. Kenny McLean, Graeme Shinnie and Andrew Considine have played the last three games so it was good to win against a good team.”

“Series of vital, late winning goals has enveloped Pittodrie in that fuzzy, feelgood factor”

Progress: For Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes