Derby defender hopes boss can deliver

Max Lowe hopes Derek McInnes can deliver another trophy for Aberdeen.

Derby County defender Lowe, who was on loan at Pittodrie during the 2018-19 campaign, spoke in glowing terms of his former manager when appearing on the Juddy Talks podcast.

He also credited McInnes, who won the League Cup with the Dons in 2014, for helping him improve to go back to the Rams a better player. Lowe said: “I feel like that’s why the team has been doing so well. He’s a great manager and a good man-manager. He’s honest.

“(In) January that season, I went back to Derby and I walked away thinking I’d not done enough at Aberdeen.

“We lost to Celtic and it hurt me, because of how much we put into that run. There’s a lot of good players at Aberdeen who haven’t won trophies, like Joe Lewis. You want to do it for guys like him and (Graeme) Shinnie, who’s at Derby with me now. I hope Aberdeen do win a trophy soon.”

Lowe was part of the team that reached the League Cup final against Celtic, where they beat Rangers 1-0 in the semi-final. He reckons the Dons’ rivalry with Rangers is as good as any he has experienced.

He said: “For me, even being an English lad, I had more buzz playing in the game than I did against Forest.

“The atmosphere in those games is different and how the manager and players built it up – ‘we can’t let Rangers do us over’ – shows how important rivalries are in Scotland. The Aberdeen v Rangers rivalry is something I can’t compare any other rivalry to.”