Dons must keep focus

Premiership: Cup hopes on hold for now as Dons look to seal league runners-up spot

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes has warned his players to forget about the Scottish Cup final against champions Celtic next month and put full focus on securing another second place in the Scottish Premiership.

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes has warned his players to forget about the Scottish Cup final and put full focus on securing second place in the Scottish Premiership.

The Dons, who defeated Hibernian 3-2 in Saturday’s Scottish Cup semi-final, return to league duty on Saturday when they meet St Johnstone for the second time in the space of three weeks.

Should Celtic beat Rangers in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off, the Dons will go into their match with the Perth Saints knowing a win would all but guarantee them second spot.

A victory would move the Dons 12 points clear of Pedro Caixinha’s side with only four games remaining and boasting a vastly superior goal difference.

The competition for starting places for the final on May 27 is likely to give the Dons an added edge over the final weeks of the season but McInnes wants his players to put their full focus on completing their league objective.

He said: “We will use all the motivation we can to get the job done in the league. We know we can take a huge step to cementing second by winning the game on Saturday.

“There is work to be done and we have to really refocus on the league for the next month. We want the players to be rewarded, it can never be in question how much they give to be successful.”

Aberdeen’s victory against Hibs means the team that finishes fourth in the Scottish Premiership will qualify for next season’s Europa League.

That is good news for Tommy Wright’s St Johnstone, in that position with a four-point advantage on Hearts. But the Dons have plenty to play for in the final weeks of the campaign as they bid to end the season as best of the rest behind champions Celtic in the league and a first Scottish Cup final win since 1990.

But McInnes knows nothing has been achieved yet and added: “The time for us to be pleased with our efforts is next month once we’ve seen where we finish. It would be the ultimate if we could get second spot and win the Scottish Cup and be the team that’s closest to Celtic in all three competitions. We’ve lost one final against them so hopefully we can go and win the Scottish Cup and finish second. That is a real possibility for us. I feel we are close to doing that.

“We have a month of football left and it’s important we retain the focus.

“We came back in June for pre-season when most people were still on their holidays and we are still going strong.”

“There is work to be done and we have to really refocus on the league”

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