The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
We must keep eyes on prize
Premiership: McInnes refuses to be distracted by dramas at Ibrox and Tynecastle
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes has told his players to ignore the turmoil engulfing their challengers in the chase to finish second in the Scottish Premiership.
The Dons, who host Ross County tomorrow, are six points clear of Rangers, who will try to bounce back from Sunday’s 2-1 defeat by Dundee with victory at Inverness tonight.
Hearts head coach Ian Cathro is also under intense pressure after his side was knocked out of the Scottish Cup by city rivals Hibernian after a dire display in Wednesday’s 3-1 defeat.
A victory against the Staggies could help the Dons open an even bigger gap in the quest to finish best of the rest, but the Aberdeen manager is unperturbed by the plight of Rangers and Hearts.
He said: “Even if our opponents were doing well and picking up points I’d think the same.
“We have to just focus on ourselves.
“If we start looking at what others are doing, regardless of whether they’re doing well or not doing slip.
“It’s so important to only concentrate on us and that’s something we have always told the players.
“What I will say is that there are too many good players at both of those clubs for results to stay like they are, so I expect an improvement.
“And I also think we can’t rule St Johnstone out because they are churning out results and are still in the mix.
“They will still have ambition as well, so we have to just concentrate on ourselves. well, then we can
“Hopefully we will have more good weekends than not and every game we win takes us a step closer to where we want to be at the end of the season.”
Even if Rangers and Hearts show an upturn in form, the Dons have a favourable run of fixtures before the split with five of their next seven league matches at Pittodrie.
The Dons manager added: “We have got ourselves into a good position but that’s all it is at the moment.
“There are 39 points still to play for so a lot can happen and we just have to focus on ourselves and our performances.
“It’s just about banging out good results and performances.
“If we can keep the injuries and suspensions to a minimum then I think we have a good chance of maintaining what we’re doing.”
Aberdeen have no fresh injury worries ahead of taking on County, who they defeated 1-0 in the last 16 of the Scottish Cup a fortnight ago.
“Concentrate on us and that’s something we have always told the players”