Milne promises to help Mcinnes freshen up his Aberdeen squad
● But Dons chairman doesn’t expect a big overhaul in January and says clubs shouldn’t get carried away by Celtic loss
Stewart Milne is ready to reward Derek Mcinnes for rejecting a move to Rangers by backing the Aberdeen manager’s plans to keep the pressure on Celtic in the title race.
But the Dons chairman has warned that the champions’ defeat at Tynecastle won’t make their task any easier in the months ahead.
The Dons chairman allowed Mcinnes to spend £550,000 on bringing Stevie May and Gary Mackay-steven to the club last summer.
He was also able to add Kari Arnason, Nicky Maynard and Greg Tansey under freedom of contract while Greg Stewart, Dominic Ball and Ryan Christie joined on loan deals.
Now Milne’s ready to make more funds available to make sure the Pittodrie club remain Celtic’s closest challengers for a fourth successive season.
Milne said: “If Derek wants to freshen up the squad we’ll back him in every way we can but we’re not going to see a major restructuring of the squad next month.
“Derek is keen to freshen up the squad but there will be no major changes. There was a lot of time, effort and money put into rebuilding the squad in the summer and we’ve seen in the last three games that squad gelling. Now there are more and more signs that they are starting to perform like they are the makings of a very strong team.”
Aberdeen head to Celtic Park on Saturday five points better off than at the same stage last season but Milne knows this will be their toughest test so far. After all, the Dons have picked up a single point in their 24 league visits to park head but changing that this weekend will be a major boost to their hopes.
Not that the Aberdeen chairman is taking anything for granted, despite Brendan Rodgers’ side losing for the first time in 70 domestic matches at Tynecastle. He added:“i don’t think anyone should get carried away by what happened on Sunday.
“That was an event that had to come at some point. I think what is encouraging is that we’re starting to see multiple teams in the top half of the league beginning to show some form now.
“We’ve always said here that, if we can see those other teams capable of taking points off Celtic, then that gives us all a chance to keep that gap as close as possible.
“Derek’s aim is that we’ve just got to look after our own results. If we do that effectively between now and the end of the season then that keeps the pressure on Celtic.”
Milne was speaking ahead of last night’s annual general meeting at Pittodrie, where it was confirmed that multimillionaire Dave Cormack has been elected to the club’s board.
“If Derek wants to freshen up the squad we’ll back him in every way we can but we’re not going to see a major restructuring of the squad next month. We’ve seen in the last three games that squad gelling” STEWART MILNE