Dons boss can’t help but admire Kris strike

ABERDEEN manager Derek McInnes admits he feared the worst when he saw Kris Ajer work up a gallop to support Celtic’s attack for the winning goal. The Norwegian ran the length of the pitch to net the winner with nine minutes remaining at Pittodrie. The Dons boss was understandably frustrated to come away with nothing from the game, insisting his side were ‘the better team’. He said: ‘Celtic get runners quickly in support to the main strikers but, when I saw Ajer like a racehorse running by me down the right-hand side, you can’t but admire the determination of the boy to get forward and the calmness of his finish. ‘With Andy (Considine) and Niall (McGinn) in the final third, we put a ball in the box and, ten seconds later, the ball is in the back of our net. ‘We gave ourselves every chance to get a result. For me, the battle starts in the dressing room and in the tunnel. ‘In your head, you’ve got to make sure you go out with the right mindset because you need to try to disrupt Celtic. ‘I know that people will make out that the pitch was difficult in the conditions, but it’s difficult for both sets of players. ‘The intent from my team was clear today. We did get after them, we did annoy them, we did put them under pressure. At no point did we want to settle for a point in the second half.’ ‘It was harsh on our players but, if we can keep that up every week, it will meet our demands. ‘I thought we were the better team. ‘We spoke at half-time about the mentality of the Celtic players next door and not one of them thought about not winning. ‘In terms of how the team played and the performance, it was exactly how my team needed to play and our performance merited something from the game — but unfortunately we didn’t get it.’ There was a further blow for McInnes (pictured), with midfielder Funso Ojo out of Wednesday’s Scottish Cup last-16 replay at Kilmarnock after an accidental collision with goalkeeper Joe Lewis after Celtic’s winner. ‘Ojo has 15 stitches in his kneecap,’ added McInnes. ‘It’s a really nasty deep cut on the bend where the knee is. ‘He might make Ross County on Saturday but he’s out for Wednesday.’