CAN DONS SWEEP CELTIC ASIDE FOR CUP GLORY?

Aberdeen: Dons defender is confident league loss to Celtic will mean nothing

Aberdeen defender Anthony O’Connor is confident his team- mates will have no fears about taking on Celtic in next month’s Betfred Cup final.

The Dons secured their place at the Hampden showpiece on November 27 with Saturday’s 2-0 win against Morton at the national stadium.

Derek McInnes’ Reds will meet Celtic, who defeated Rangers 1-0 in yesterday’s second semi-final with an 87th-minute Moussa Dembele goal.

Despite Aberdeen’s 4-1 defeat by the Hoops in August, O’Connor is confident about his side’s chances of securing the trophy.

The Dons won the competition at Parkhead in 2014 thanks to a penalty shootout victory against Caley Thistle, and O’Connor, who joined from English Championship side Burton Albion in the summer, wants to savour silverware success.

He said: “This is a big club and we should always be aiming to get to finals and play against the big teams such as Celtic.

“We’ve given ourselves a right chance to go and win it.

“It will be different in the final, it will be a packed house. We’re just going to treat it like another game.

“We lost against Celtic in the league but the scoreline in that game didn’t actually reflect the performance.

“We’ll be going into the game with a lot of confidence. We’ve won six games in a row now, so, hopefully, we can bring that momen- tum into the final. We’ve given ourselves a great c hance t o go and get some silverware. That’s what this club should be aiming for.”

TheDonswereforced tobe patient to defeat Morton on Saturday, with second-half goals from Adam Rooney and Kenny McLean securing their progress.

O’Connor says the glorious chance missed by Ton attacker Jai Quitongo just before half-time was a wake-up call for his team, and the Irishman added: “It gave us a little indication that if we were not switched on for 90 minutes they might nick a goal, even if we were on top for 85 minutes or so.

“We had to tighten up a little bit and make sure we didn’t give them any encouragement.

“We dominated the game from start to finish. We got the job done and I’m really happy to get to the final.”

“That scoreline did not reflect our performance”

FINAL LIFT-OFF: Adam Rooney gives teammate Graeme Shinnie a lift after making it 1-0 for Aberdeen against Morton at Hampden Park on Saturday