STAYING FOCUSED
Dons not derailed by boss rumours
THE Aberdeen players did not allow the speculation linking their manager with a move to Rangers to deflect their attention away from their quest to land the Scottish Cup.
This fifth-round victory over Ross County may ultimately turn out to be Derek McInnes’ last match in charge of the Dons.
But he avoided being drawn on reports that he is the preferred option to succeed Mark Warburton by sidestepping the post-match media conference and leaving it to his assistant Tony Docherty instead to field questions.
Docherty was quick to stress that such an arrangement had been in place for some time and insisted that McInnes’ absence was not linked to developments at Ibrox.
But it was no coincidence, surely, that McInnes chose to steer clear of any questions about his future after Shay Logan had delivered an 87th-minute match-winner that was richly deserved.
The full-back got lucky when his left-foot shot from the edge of the penalty box ricocheted off Staggies defender Kenny van der Weg and deflected beyond the reach of man-of-thematch Scott Fox.
However, the Dons were entitled to a rub of the green after dominating much of the play and carving out several chances.
Home defender Jay McEveley nearly snatched a dramatic equaliser, forcing Joe Lewis to make what was effectively his first meaningful save in the dying moments to avoid a replay.
But that would have been more than the Staggies merited, for while they showed plenty of desire and commitment, they failed to produce their A-game in this firstever cup tie between the sides.
‘We left it late but I feel the result was fully deserved,’ said Logan. ‘We created a lot of chances and their keeper had a very good game.
‘I don’t score many goals, but when I cut inside getting the shot away was the only thing on my mind. I’m not bothered that it took a little deflection.’
Referring to the rumours surrounding McInnes, Logan added: ‘The manager is always going to be linked to the Rangers job, so it’s no surprise.
‘But, of course we want him to stay. He’s one of four or five who are being linked with it and I’m sure his focus isn’t on Rangers, it’s on Aberdeen and the team here.’
Docherty insisted: ‘We’d always said that I was going to be speaking to you guys after this tie so there’s absolutely nothing in that.
‘We can’t do anything about rumours. All that Derek and I can affect is our performances on the pitch, and I think you saw a real strong one from Aberdeen today.
‘We had to work hard but the dominant team won the tie. Our defending was excellent, our pressing of the ball was great, our midfield was dominant and that got us into the final third.’
Aberdeen, unchanged for the eighth consecutive match, should have been well on their way to the quarter-finals by half-time.
Niall McGinn and Jonny Hayes both went close to scoring, while Kenny McLean only just failed to make clean contact with a cross from the latter.
But for all that Aberdeen were dominant, Fox had to make only one save, tipping McGinn’s 20-yard effort over the crossbar.
Hayes’ free-kick, while beautifully struck, dipped just over and McLean’s header lacked sufficient direction to test the goalkeeper.
The intensity of Aberdeen’s play was such that they might easily have scored from any one of six chances in the first 18 minutes of the second half and should certainly have gone in front three minutes after the restart. McGinn’s shot straight at Fox after McEveley had been dispossessed was lazy and wasteful.
Ryan Jack was much more polished, forcing a fine save from Fox before Alex Schalk eased the intense pressure momentarily, shooting just wide following a counter-attack.
Andrew Considine would surely have found the net with a header in the 57th minute had he managed to get a little bit more leverage on the ball, but Fox was able to save.
Hayes was next to pose a threat, but Fox managed somehow to get a hand to the ball, before Graeme Shinnie hit the rebound wide.
However, having produced perhaps his best stop of the match in the 63rd minute from Considine at point-blank range, Fox was powerless to deny Logan.
And Ross County boss Jim McIntyre reflected: ‘In terms of our determination, we showed plenty of fight, but we didn’t really have enough quality in key areas and that was the problem.’