JUST DANDY
Dons boss dedicates win to attack victims MARK WALKER
DEREK McINNES dedicated Aberdeen’s superb Europa League win over Siroki Brijeg to the Dons fans who were subjected to an horrific attack the night before the game.
Late goals from new boys Greg Stewart and Gary Mackay-Steven sealed a 3-1 aggregate victory for the visitors and secured a third-round qualifying tie with Cypriots Apollon Limassol.
And McInnes was delighted to give 200 travelling fans something to celebrate after a group of about 50 of them were ambushed by masked thugs in a pub in nearby Mostar on Wednesday evening.
‘Getting the result for the fans was always the most important thing,’ said the delighted Aberdeen manager. ‘The incident the night before the game was disappointing and I don’t think it was anything to do with Siroki Brijeg. They were totally innocent of all this but
From Back Page thankfully no one was seriously hurt and it won’t put too many off from going to Cyprus. ‘We met a lot of supporters in the town this morning and they told us about the incident. It wasn’t nice to hear about it, but hopefully us winning the game helps make their trip worthwhile.’ McInnes’ team were heading out of the competition with 18 minutes left last night after last week’s 1-1 draw at Pittodrie, but found an extra gear in the final half hour as Ryan Christie set up the goals for Stewart and Mackay-Steven. The manager was delighted but admitted that he may have got his preparations wrong by not playing another pre-season match before last week’s first game. He said: ‘I did say last week that we looked short on match sharpness in the last stages, but I felt having the game would give us the strength and competitive edge going into this one. ‘We were always confident we could score and, once we did, I felt we took control. We got stronger as the game wore on and my players’ fitness and sharpness told in the end. ‘In hindsight, I should have played another pre-season game and I would have taken responsibility had we gone out tonight. This should have been game five for us, not four. ‘The energy and competitiveness of our team tonight was excellent and the atmosphere got the juices going. We were very strong tonight. ‘Both Greg Stewart and Gary Mackay-Steven are capable of that kind of quality and they showed that with their goals. ‘We defended really well. Our objective was to look after the ball and Kenny McLean did that, while Graeme Shinnie was everywhere for us.’ McInnes is looking forward to playing the Cypriots for a place in the play-off round of the tournament. He said: ‘I’ve got games to watch on the laptop on the way home and we’ll get a handle on them. We will know the level of team we’re up against. ‘It will be difficult. Again, we’ll be better for having played tonight and we’ll be ready for the challenge. ‘Having Kari Arnason available will be important, too. He’ll get a game on Sunday at Brechin.’