SILVERWARE IS THE NAME OF THE GAME FOR McINNES

WIN a cup, or stuff it right up rivals whose absence has done little to increase fondness among the hearts of hardened Aberdeen supporters? Derek McInnes doesn’t need to think more than a millisecond before answering.

‘A cup win, every time,’ said the Dons manager, who understands how much Sunday’s league fixture at home to Rangers will mean to Pittodrie punters but cannot afford to look beyond the visit of St Johnstone in tomorrow night’s Betfred Cup quarter-final.

‘It was 19 years since we had last won a cup and you saw the scenes two years ago, with people flying in from all over the world.

‘Cups are really important for us. Our supporters had seen other supporters winning trophies over those 19 years and thought: “Why not us?” So the trophies are everything.

‘We have had a few victories over Celtic in recent seasons and the supporters would have swapped that for winning silverware every time.

‘When you come to the club and work for Aberdeen, part of the remit is to get to cup finals — to get yourself in the mix for winning silverware.’

Despite the Dons’ fine league form in the last campaign, they never got going in either cup. Defeats to both sides from Edinburgh put paid to their ambitions.

‘In my first couple of seasons, we got to three semi-finals and won the League Cup,’ continued McInnes (below).

‘Last season’s cup experience was disappointing. We lost at Hearts (in the Scottish Cup) and we lost at Hibs (in the League Cup), so we never even got one cup run going at all last year.

‘And, sometimes, the perception of a successful campaign can be determined by your cup runs.

‘There was so much to like about our league form last year. But the cup gives us the best chance of silverware.

‘I think it’s something that’s really important to the players, and certainly to fans.

‘We should be going all the way in cup competitions. We’re in the last eight, we want to get into that semi-final draw.

‘We feel we’ve got as good a chance as any team to go all the way. A lot of teams in the competition will feel that this could be their time — and we’re no different.

‘I think it is like any top club — and I would regard us as a top club. That is the name of the game. We want to be in it to win it.

‘We want to go all the way and be competitive. I think we have been in the league and we have been in the cups until last year.

‘There is a feelgood factor with the support. They dream of that day at Hampden, as do the players. There are financial rewards for a good cup run as well as the confidence it gives the team.

‘I am confident that I have a team that is capable of winning trophies. I don’t want to be just talking about the League Cup win from a few years ago. Myself, the players and the staff want to be defined by winning more trophies.’

The subject of silverware was discussed within the squad at the start of the season. While accepting that injuries, suspensions or just plain bad luck can knock the bestlaid plans awry, Aberdeen are a team who specifically target the knockout competitions.

McInnes insists he will pick his best available team for tomorrow’s tie and then, whatever happens, he’ll just have to patch together whatever starting XI are fit and running for the visit of Rangers less than 72 hours later.

Asked if he was annoyed by focus outside the club already shifting to Sunday, he said: ‘Not at all. I totally understand it.

‘It is our job at the club to be professional and gear towards this game. It is too big a game to be looking elsewhere.’

The former St Johnstone boss has obvious respect for his old club, although he doesn’t hold with the impression of Tommy Wright’s men as plucky underdogs putting the bite on the big boys.

‘People say they punch above their weight,’ said McInnes. ‘I don’t know about that. They’re littered with good players and they also have a good management team. ‘They’ve got some very good footballers and the fact they’ve been so consistent over five or six years now, qualifying for Europe, that’s down to the fact it’s a lot of the same boys. They are where they are because they’re good players.’