Spot of frustration as McInnes claims Jones dived for that penalty award
in the match. Steve Clarke’s side showed a lot of spirit to draw at Pittodrie, fighting back to earn the replay after Graeme Shinnie gave the hosts a ninth-minute lead.
‘In the build-up to the penalty, I think we’re in the strongest position to deal with it between Shay and Arni, but we have allowed Jones to get in,’ declared McInnes.
‘That said, I still don’t think it was a penalty. I think he (Jones) goes down without any contact — but I’m more frustrated about us not dealing with the situation.
‘For all of that, though, I think we’ve got to be thankful we’re still in the Cup.
‘I thought we were the better team in the first half, but the better players were in Kilmarnock jerseys in the second half.
‘I understand why he has gone down. I think he has maybe anticipated (contact). Looking at it again, I don’t see how anybody has made a foul.
‘Shay certainly hasn’t made a foul and if the referee (Steven McLean) thought he had, then it might have been a booking — and maybe off.
‘I think Jones has just got in between (Logan and Arnason) — and we caused that situation, so I can understand why he has gone down.
‘I’ve seen the incident slowed down, but I don’t see who has pulled him down.
‘At the time, I admit that I thought it was a penalty, so there’s no real criticism of the referee.’
McInnes also challenged the Aberdeen board to inject finances towards improving the Pittodrie pitch.
The club expect to move to a new £50million stadium at Kingsford by 2021, but the manager said that investment could still be made on their current home.
‘As I’ve said time and time again, the pitch isn’t helping either team trying get the ball down,’ insisted McInnes.
‘It’s a difficult surface. Even their flair players like Jones found it difficult to run with the ball on that pitch.
‘It’s more about playing percentages and being pragmatic. It does affect the better players in both teams.
‘I don’t think we should accept that surface. We spent a lot of money on it in the summer and I’ve been critical of it.
‘I’m well aware of how hard our ground staff work, but we deserve a better pitch than that.
‘I do need to balance this out by saying I’m not blaming the pitch for us not getting through to the semi-finals — but, in general, it’s certainly not helping.
‘We’re having to play a certain way, defend a certain way and play in a manner which doesn’t suit some of our players.
‘There was no real fluency or rhythm from either team today. It was all about trying to get on top of your opponent, get on to second balls, play into good areas.’
Kilmarnock boss Clarke admitted that he was slightly underwhelmed by the prospect of a replay.
‘The last thing we wanted was another midweek fixture because we’ve got a lot of them coming up,’ he said.
‘But we’ll take the replay. I think the tie is still 50-50.
‘Aberdeen are maybe slightly favourites because they are the team who have been up there for years and years.
‘We’re trying to close the gap on the teams above us. We’re working hard as a group and our results are decent.’