Del needs to shock it to Celts

This will be the 12th time Derek McInnes has faced a Celtic side with Brendan Rodgers in charge.

Once again, the Dons boss will wrestle with the same tactical dilemma. Does he construct a defensive shape designed to sit in, frustrate Celtic and try to hit them on the counter attack?

Or does he go toe-to-toe, press, get in their faces and attempt to force them into mistakes at the back.

Over the last two and a half years, McInnes has tried both policies.

Having lost 10 of those previous 11 encounters you have to say neither has worked particularly well.

The 2017 Scottish Cup Final was as close as Aberdeen have been to winning a meaningful match against Celtic in recent times.

That day, they went for the jugular. Right from the off, they pressed high, not giving the champions time to find their rhythm.

To do that for 90 minutes, with the quality Rodgers can call on from the bench, is extremely tough.

In the end, the Dons ran out of gas and were hit with a sucker punch goal from Tom Rogic at the death.

It’s questionable whether McInnes’ squad now is as strong as it was then.

At times this season, he’s been brave with his formations.

Regularly playing a 4-4-2, with two flying wingers in Niall McGinn and Gary Mackay-Steven, two strikers and attack-minded Lewis Ferguson in central midfield, has been admirable and adventurous.

You have to think a similar set-up at Hampden today would leave them wide open and susceptible to Celtic picking them apart.

Ultimately, the answer for McInnes will lie somewhere between being gung-ho and ultra-defensive.

He desperately needs Mikey Devlin fit alongside Scott McKenna.

That defensive core of Joe Lewis in goal, Devlin, McKenna and skipper Graeme Shinnie in front of them will be vital to any potential success.

Ferguson will play box-to-box and the energetic Scott Wright might get the nod as the advanced midfielder.

Aberdeen need someone to disrupt Celtic’s anchor man in there, whether it’s Scott Brown or Callum McGregor. Wright can do that, as well as being creative in the final third.

In the wide areas McInnes will need McGinn and GMS to put in the shift of their lives going both ways.

If that all comes together they’ve got a chance.