McInnes praises his Dons for keeping their cool

ABERDEEN manager Derek McInnes praised his players for keeping their cool in the powderkeg atmosphere of Rugby Park after revealing injured captain Graeme Shinnie may have played his last game for the club.

Rory McKenzie became the third Kilmarnock player sent off after a foul on Shinnie, whose resultant ankle damage could see him miss the last four games of the campaign before his contract expires.

However, Shinnie returned to the play to see the Dons over the line and into third in the league, and McInnes believes cool heads won out on a day in which referee Steven McLean had to be escorted out of the stadium at the end for his own safety.

‘Apart from a brief spell under Tommy Burns, I can’t remember an atmosphere like that at Rugby Park,’ said McInnes. ‘The fans got right behind their team so we felt we had to stay calm.

‘If anyone thought our season finished last week at Hampden (with the cup semi-final loss to Celtic), the appetite of my players illustrates the opposite.’

Questioned about Shinnie’s condition, he replied: ‘Not good. I’d say he would be a doubt for the remaining games. His ankle is a bit of a mess.’

Goalscorer Scott McKenna also felt the Dons kept their cool after Lewis Ferguson and Dom Ball were sent off in their cup defeat last weekend.

‘Last week, going down to nine men cost us, so it was important we kept people on the pitch here,’ he said. ‘With Killie getting three sent off, that was a massive advantage. It’s difficult when tackles are flying in but I thought the ref got the sendings off right.’