McInnes delighted to see Dons bounce back

DEREK McINNES hailed his Aberdeen players for bouncing back from their disaster in Dingwall to returning to winning ways against Motherwell.

The Dons slumped to a 4-1 defeat against Ross County last week, which prompted a small group of fans to display banners outside Pittodrie this week calling for the manager to go.

But goals from Tommie Hoban and Andy Considine sealed three points for McInnes’ men against ten-man Motherwell.

The Aberdeen boss was delighted after his side ended a run of three games without a win and saw them move into third spot above Hibernian with a game in hand.

‘I thought we were good from the outset and that was important after the disappointment of last week,’ said McInnes.

‘The important thing after a poor result is to respond in the right manner and make sure we were robust enough in our defending as has been the standard this season.

‘We were far more like ourselves today defensively and giving that confidence to keep performing at a high level.

‘The biggest drain on confidence is losing poor goals and that’s what happened at Dingwall but we stuck to our task today.

‘We were much more threatening as well and getting the early goal settled us down as we have been here before.

‘We were rampant in the first half against Dundee United here but didn’t take the numerous chances and the game became far harder after that.

‘The sending off made things more straightforward for the second half but you still have to compete against that and do the right things.

‘It was a good day’s work and the clean sheet is very important to us after last week.

‘We go back to third in the table and are actually five points better off than we were at this stage last season.

‘Now we move on to St Johnstone and, hopefully, we can build on today’s performance result.

‘That’s the key for any team wherever you are in the league to get that consistency as we have only had five defeats this season and three in the league were against Rangers.

‘They have been a tough opponent for most but, in general, our level of performance has been good enough to get us where we are.’

McInnes was pleased with the display of Ryan Hedges, with the winger returning from suspension, and admitted the team felt his absence in Dingwall.

‘We’ve missed him,’ added the Dons boss. ‘It was a very open game last week.

‘Ordinarily, we would prefer an open game against County and Hedges would have enjoyed last week. But it’s great to have him back.

‘He had his full repertoire, inside and out, plenty shots and was unfortunate not to get a goal. His contribution was terrific.’