I’m surprised Celtic haven’t won more trebles..if they do it today I don’t think it’s a massive shock

TODAY, HAMPDEN, 3PM Del can’t resist a dig .. but boss is sure Reds can give perfect performance

been unbeaten gives you an indication of their focus as well as having good players.

“Once it started to be spoken about around September or October it’s something they’ve clearly aimed for and they deserve credit for that.

“But there’s still one game left domestically and hopefully we can have our own celebration and rightly be proud of our team.”

Aberdeen arrived on the outskirts of Glasgow on Thursday night, 36 hours ahead of a travelling army of 24,000 fans desperate to see their side win the famous old trophy for the first time since Brian Irvine’s spot-kick handed them glory 27 years ago. McInnes added: “We stayed in Aberdeen most of the week. In November, before the League Cup Final, our training pitches were a mess so we went to St Andrews and found the pitches were frozen.

“We were scrambling about. Paul Hartley gave us Dens Park and put the heating on. Tommy Wright gave us St Johnstone. Both clubs charged us right enough!

“That threw our plans a wee bit from a training point of view but we went into that game in decent form. This time we have a more relaxed and confident squad.

“We take strength from our form and the fact we finished second in the Premiership – and comfortably as 76 points was a fantastic return.

“It’s important to enjoy the build-up. I reminded myself of that last weekend, thinking about how managers such as Richie Foran and Martin Canning must have felt going into their matches.

“We’ve had a good season. It is only by revisiting finals and Hampden – this is our fourth visit this season – that you gain the experience you draw upon, good and bad.

“We are going into the game with a clean bill of health and also with the players feeling good about themselves. We are capable of a performance that can win.”

Aberdeen have run Celtic closer than any other side this season but ultimately there was a gulf of 30 points at the end of the league campaign. Rodgers’s side laid down another marker at Pittodrie only a fortnight ago when they raced to a 3-0 lead in 11 minutes, eventually triumphing 3-1 as Aberdeen won praise for the manner of their display for the rest of the match.

McInnes added: “Our focus is on a lot of stuff we did well in the last two games. We lost 1-0 at Celtic Park and only a set-play separated the teams.

“Celtic had one shot on target that night and we were pleased with a lot of our defensive work.

“I’m not going to glorify a defeat but there was a lot in the last match at Pittodrie we were pleased about. We created more chances than in any of the previous games.

“We know we’ll have spells when we can attack and get at them but we’ll also have to defend well.

“We’ve had five semi-finals out of eight since I joined the club and this is the third final in four years.

“We might play awful but win a cup this weekend. That’s the way football works sometimes.”

GARY RALSTON