Mcinnes taken aback by ‘bizarre’ Clarke remarks
PARTICK
V ABERDEEN
Aberdeen boss Derek Mcinnes has admitted he was surprised by Kilmarnock manager Steve Clarke’s outburst after their cup clash last week.
Clarke called for the SFA to act as Mcinnes appeared to question a penalty decision after Jordan Jones was brought down by Shay Logan. The Killie boss believed Mcinnes was branding his winger a diver, and said afterwards: “I thoughthewasoutoforder… surely the authorities should ask him to explain himself.”
Mcinnes, whose Aberdeen side are looking to cement their place in the Ladbrokes Premiership top three as they head to Partick Thistle today, denied that he called Jones a diver, but admits he was taken aback by the way Clarke handled the affair.
“It was a bit bizarre to be honest, because it’s Steve who has brought it into the public domain,” he said.
“My comments – having looked back at them – were about trying to defend Shay because I know Steve was keen to get Shay sent off, and was then keen to get me into trouble with the SFA, but he actually got the penalty.
“If I wanted to, I would have mentioned that he [Jones] got booked for diving a few weeks ago in the league and I would have mentioned that he’s been booked for diving already this season and I would have mentioned that he got booked for diving last season, but I didn’t.”
Partick manager Alan Archibald is confident Conor Sammon will be fit for the Dons’ visit.
The on-loan striker rolled his ankle in the Jags’ last game against Hamilton but is making progress.