GRIN & TONIC
Relief for McInnes who feels like a Dons fan as his team stop the rot
DEREK McINNES admitted to celebrating with as much abandon as any Aberdeen fan yesterday — out of sheer relief at seeing his side battle from a goal down to beat Dundee at Dens Park.
However, the Dons boss has urged his players to become more emotionally stable after enduring crazy highs and dangerous lows during an eventful start to the new season.
McInnes, who praised the character of his players for ending a three-game losing streak and securing a place in the Betfred Cup quarter-finals, sprinted down the touchline and punched the air as first Andrew Considine and then Sam Cosgrove saved the Dons. And he said: ‘You just become like a supporter. You just feel that
elation and relief. It was relief and sheer pleasure on my part at seeing my players having to dig deep and win. ‘We were not brilliant. It was all about digging deep and getting the result. ‘I know we can improve, be far slicker and more technical, and I know we’ll have more energy in our legs. ‘There are certain games where you need grit and determination and we had that. ‘It takes luck, good players and quality but, in any team, there has to be a strength to dig out results. ‘For long spells, it didn’t look like there was a goal in us but we made changes, took a risk by going man for man at the back — and, thankfully, we had enough bodies at both goals to get the reward. ‘A lot of people would have taken pleasure in seeing us go out of the cup — and I have a lot of pleasure in seeing my team go through.’ Addressing the emotional swings endured as Aberdeen crashed out of Europe and lost to St Mirren away during a horrible three-game stretch, McInnes pointed out: ‘Two weeks ago we left Pittodrie after beating Hearts 3-2 and everyone was euphoric. ‘This was the best team we had in a while... all of that. We cannot go as high as that to as low as we were. ‘We knew Dundee would be tough. If Andy has conceded a penalty, he has made up for it. ‘It was a real dagger to the hearts of the Dundee players late on and we looked more equipped to get the second goal. Once we got it, we managed to get over the line without too much fuss. Dundee gave us a right game and made it difficult for us.’