Mcinnes delighted to have Aberdeen firing on all cyclinders ahead of Hampden semi-final

Aberdeen manager Derek Mcinnes says his players will go into Saturday’s League Cup semi-final against Morton high on confidence after their thumping 4-0 win over Ross County.

The Dons have built momentum ahead of the Hampden clash and their demolition of ten-man County was their fifth straight victory. It was a straight-forward one, too, with the impressive Jonny Hayes, pictured, opening the scoring and Shay Logan, Niall Mcginn and Jayden Stockley also finding the net after County’s Tim Chow had been sent off for a crunching tackle on Hayes.

Mcinnes said: “When the draw was made, I said it was important to get good league form going into it. We have had that focus since the Dundee game and we have that killer instinct and we are enjoying winning.

“The players are working really hard and I think the level of performance individually from a few players has certainly gone up in recent weeks.”

Mcinnes, however, will have his team fully prepared for his old club Morton, who warmed up for the cup tie with a 5-0 romp at Ladbrokes Championship leaders Queen of the South. Mcinnes added: “That was a brilliant result because Queen of the South are really strong at home and were top of the league.

“Morton will be confident but I think it was good for us to have seen them at their best, not that we needed any warning that they are a good team.”

Meanwhile, Ross County boss Jim Mcintyre is not concerned by his team’s six-game winless streak, the Staggies having failed to pick up a victory since defeating Kilmarnock in August. County never got going at Pit to drie and were clearly missing injured pair Liam Boyce and Alex Schalk, but Mcintrye is staying calm. The Dingwall manager said: “You look at the statistics and you see we have not won in six but we have drawn three of those matches and two of them were at Ibrox and Tynecastle.

“You are never displeased with picking up a point at those grounds but where we have let ourselves down is at home. It is important that we get back on the winning trail, whether that is at home or away.

“But we are a good side and we will come again. It’s just a sticky period that we are going through at the moment but I have got a great group in the dressing room.”