Dons fully focused on beating Accies

Aberdeen captain Joe Lewis says his side’s full focus is on tomorrow’s visit of Hamilton Accies, despite the upcoming Celtic double-header looming large on the horizon.

The Dons endured a frustrating 90 minutes at Tannadice on Saturday when they were held to a 0-0 draw by Dundee United in the first New Firm derby for four years.

Derek McInnes’s men host Hamilton tomorrow before the visit of Celtic on league duty this Sunday followed by the Scottish Cup semi- final at Hampden against the Hoops on November 1.

Lewis said: “I haven’t given any thought to the semi-finals yet, to be honest.

“We need to keep our full focus on the next game, which is Hamilton on Tuesday.

“We know the importance of the league this season.

“Obviously it is exciting to know that the semi is on the horizon and we have back to back games against Celtic.

“It’ s disappointing the supporters won’t be in by that time, but there’s nothing we can do about that.

“We will certainly fancy ourselves when the semi comes around but the league comes first until then.”

Lewis, however, believes the team’s strength in depth should give them confidence heading into a crucial run.

He said: “We have a brilliant squad this season, it’s definitely the strongest since I came to the club.

“Look at the players who are not getting on the pitch and it’s going to be very difficult for the manager to keep everyone happy. It’s a strong group and the lads who are playing know they have to grasp the nettle to stay there.

“We have some really exciting players in our squad.”

The Dons were almost made to pay for their profligacy against the Tangerines with Lewis denying Logan Chalmers a late winner for the hosts.

Lewis said: “We should have won that game and I don’t think anyone could dispute that we were the dominant team. I was a spectator for most of the 90 minutes and only had one bit of action on a counter-attack.

“I have been in the game for long enough to know that, even though I had nothing to do, I’d probably be needed at some point. Thankfully I was able to save it and we cleared the danger, but that was it really.

“You have to concentrate as a goalkeeper and play your part when you’re called upon.

“Their keeper made a few good saves so there is a lot of frustration there for us. But we have to look at the positives, we kept a clean sheet and they have good attacking players who we kept quiet.

“I don’t think anyone could criticise our application, we went on the front foot, worked hard and won the ball in high areas of the pitch.

“It was just the deliveries into the box and the finishing touch we lacked. We just didn’t have enough to get the ball into the net, so we will look at that.

“We should have won – it feels like two points dropped – but we have to move forward and look towards Tuesday now.”

Callum Davidson believes the Betfred Cup was the catalyst for St Johnstone’s sudden goalscoring exploits.

The Perth club have struggled for goals all season and failed to score in their four Premiership fixtures before the international break.

The Saints scored nine goals in their two Betfred Cup matches against Kelty Hearts and Brechin and that renewed confidence in front of goal was evident as they smashed five past Hamilton in an impressive 5-3 win.

“The cup competition came at a good time for us,” said boss Davidson.

“Stevie May is back in good form and his movement was really good. He kept getting in behind players and he was a constant threat.

“He was very unselfish for Craig Conway’s goal and that’s the pleasing aspect for me.

“It’s the same as when David Wotherspoon gave the penalty to Callum last week, it shows our spirit.”

The attacking trio of Conway, Wotherspoon and May were hugely influential and involved in every goal.

Former Accies striker May bagged a first- half double while Conway grabbed his brace after the interval with Wotherspoon’s strike coming on 13 minutes.

Hamilton’s nightmare opening half hour was compounded by an injury to the influential David Templeton.

His replacement Ronan Hughes was the shining light in defeat as the academy graduate netted his first two goals for the club which drew praise from manager Brian Rice.

“David’s took a sore one but it gave us an opportunity to get Ronan on the pitch.

“We’ve not been able to do that recently since his injury at Parkhead.

He managed to get two goals and that’ ll be a massive boost to the young man.”

Marios Ogkmpoe scored Hamilton’s other goal.