TROPHY HUNTER
0 Alex Mcleish was speaking at a William Hill event at Hampden. up and you see what they mean after a period of time. It was a great spell for us and Dundee United back then, a time when teams outwith the Old Firm finally believed they could come down to Glasgow and win.”
Aberdeen flopped badly in that scenario when they reached the League Cup final earlier this season, slipping tamely to a 3-0 defeat against Celtic at Hampden. Ahead of Saturday’s Scottish Cup semi-final against Hibs at the national stadium, Mcleish insists Mcinnes’ players must display a far more purposeful mentality.
“They need to show they have learned from that game against Celtic,” he said. “It was agamewherescottbrownwas going into tackles and coming away with the ball every time and those are the situations in biggameswheretheaberdeen players have to show they are not going to be bullied. They have to be able to dominate because that’s the only way individuals get themselves recognised in the clamour for the Scotland squad as well.
“Aberdeen have had a very consistent season and this is the kind of showcase where the guys who are being touted for the Scotland squad need to excel, to show they can play under pressure at the higher levels.”
Mcleish, who managed Hibs to their previous second tier title back in 1999 and then to the Scottish Cup final two years later, believes the Easter Road club can cash in on the feelgood factor of clinching the Championship title last weekend and pose a significant threat to Aberdeen’s ambitions.
“It is a hard game for Aberdeen on Saturday, a dangerous game,” he said. “Hibs will be on a high. Neil Lennon has great experience of these kind of games from his time at Celtic and I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion for the Dons. “We had tremendous momentum with that Hibs team when we won the second tier title in 1999. Winning
“I think he would probably be itching for another stab at the silverware. He would look back with great pride over the period he has been there if hewonacoupleof trophies”
ALEX MCLEISH