It’s Cup deja vu for Dons as they face Saints after horror home league run

“With the squad Derek has, they can get a result against any other team in Scotland on any given day.

“If Aberdeen beat St Mirren then they are in a semi-final and going back to Hampden.

“I know things might not be going completely the way Aberdeen had hoped in the league but it could still turn into a very good season, especially if they were to win the Cup.

“We drew the first game in Paisley but I had to get a fitness test outside the hotel. I had hurt my hip and had to run up and down this bit of grass. I wasn’t really fit but still played.

“I remember we were losing and I was about to swing in a free-kick when Hicham Zerouali pushed me out the way and smashed it in the top corner.

“We then beat St Mirren in the replay thanks to goals from Zerouali and Paul Bernard.

“We were drawn away to Celtic or Inverness. We all thought it was going to be Celtic but it was the night Steve Paterson’s team famously beat John Barnes’ side. When we

SCOTT BURNS heard Inverness had won we were delighted because we knew it would give us a better chance.

“They took us to a replay before we finally beat them then Dundee United and Hibs before we faced Rangers in the Scottish Cup Final.

“We got to two finals and could hardly buy a win in the league so must have kept our

BY good luck for the Cup.” It didn’t extend to both finals as striker Robbie Winters had to replace crocked keeper Jim Leighton in the third minute of a 4-0 defeat to Rangers, while they lost 2-0 to Celtic in the League Cup.

Their season, the first of Skovdahl’s three-and-a-half year reign, had started with seven straight league defeats.

McInnes’ record is night and day compared to Dow’s time under the Dane, with the 47year-old unable to fathom that some have called for the axe.

He said: “You wouldn’t have thought the team had lost four games in a row because Pittodrie has been something of a fortress under Derek.

“You can’t speak about Ebbe Skovdahl and Derek in the same breath. That record is the only thing they have in common. It is harsh some fans have called for Derek’s head.

“I was at a wedding ( former chairman) Stewart Milne was at last summer and he said Derek was the best thing that had happened to Aberdeen in his tenure.”