Ref got penalty call wrong, says angry Mcinnes
Aberdeen boss Derek Mcinnes conceded that while his side gained a point on Celtic and pulled away from Hibs in the Premiership table, their performance simply wasn’t good enough to merit victory against Dundee United.
But the Dons manager was fuming that referee Kevin Clancy ignored a penalty claim after Ryan Hedges was brought down by United’s Mark Connolly in the box.
Mcinnes watched a TV playback of the incident during the half-time break and was adamant Connolly felled his player.
He said: “It looked a penalty. The reaction of the players at the time was pretty telling as well.
“Ryan was caught in the box and it should have been a penalty.”
But the Pittodrie boss was downcast that his team couldn’t produce the impetus they displayed in a fastpaced first half when they pressed a stubborn United defence.
He said: “If I did this interview at half- time I would have been really pleased even though we hadn’t scored, I thought our attacking threat was clear.
“I thought Hedges and Jonny Hayes got wide, played round their shape and put plenty of crosses into their box.
“Curtis Main was supported by Niall McG inn and Matty Kennedy and we were very good in the first half without scoring a goal.
“We asked for more of the same and after the game I am disappointed that we haven’t followed that on.
“We needed to show experience, show poise and stay calm and do the right things but we were guilty of poor decisions.
“We stopped putting crosses into the box and moving the ball from side to side quicker and we lost control of the game.
“United were better in second half but as long as it was 0- 0 you need to keep putting pressure on the opposition.
“We are disappointed with the way the second half played out.
“We take a point and a clean sheet but it doesn’t hide the fact that we didn’t show far better of ourselves in the second half, considering the attacking threats we had on the pitch.”
Mcinnes refused to dwell on gains made in the table as his disappointment showed.
He said: “Our fight is with ourselves. I want us to control what we can control and today feels like a missed opportunity.
“It is a point gained on other teams but it is a game where we feel we should be picking up all three points.
“It was less of a dominant performance than it was at Tannadice earlier this season.
“We still feel it was a missed opportunity than anything gained today.”