Derek McInnes delighted with Aberdeen’s return to form

Posted Wednesday, December 19, 2018 by PA

Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes hailed his side’s consistency as their emphatic 5-1 victory over Dundee took them to within a point of Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership leaders Rangers.

Sam Cosgrove and Andrew Considine both struck doubles for the home side, with Connor McLennan also on the scoresheet. Dundee’s lone consolation came from distance, with on-loan Celtic man Calvin Miller finding the net.

McInnes said “I’m really pleased. From the outset it was very clear the players had an appetite for the game.

“We’ve scored 10 goals in three games, and it shows the importance of carrying a threat at the top end. We’ve had a good spread of goals around the team.”

With the Dons having gone under the radar as they moved up the table, McInnes feels there’s more to come from his side, adding “I think it’s not eight out of 10 in the league, and I think it’ll be difficult to sustain runs in the league this season.

“I still feel that we’re winning games without key players. We’ve had to deal with a lot of injuries. January will give us some respite and hopefully let us add to the squad.

“We set a target before the Livingston game to win four games, to take us to 36 points after 19 games. We’ve got nine of nine, and we’ll try to get the next three against Hearts on Saturday.”

Dundee’s manager, Jim McIntyre, admits he has work to do in January despite a recent upturn in results, but the result at Pittodrie wasn’t a factor in that.

He said “It wasn’t good enough. We were miles off it. Aberdeen were quicker, stronger, and I think they bullied us at times. We were too meek, and need to show far, far more. Saturday we had a poor 25 minutes but otherwise played well. Nobody did well tonight, and it’s not good enough.

“Tonight was our game in hand. We knew it would be difficult, but it was an opportunity for us to pick something up. We have work to do and that was the case even when we were four games unbeaten.

“We have some good players, but we need some help. We’re at the bottom of the league for a reason and we have to strengthen in the window.

“We face Celtic at the weekend. That’s not our fight. We want to go there and be hard to beat, but after a performance like that its a sore one. You can’t feel sorry for yourself. You have to enjoy going to play at Parkhead.”