Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes has warned his players that dreams of ending the club’s 18-year wait for a trophy must not derail their League cup quarter-final tie against Motherwell tomorrow night.
With cup favourites Celtic already out of the competition, the Dons could take a sizeable step towards satisfying their supporters’ craving for success by defeating the Steelmen at Fir Park.
There have been too many miserable frustrations for supporters in recent years. But with a semi-final berth within their reach, McInnes knows the League Cup competition is an excellent opportunity for success in his first full season in charge at Pittodrie.
He said: “We’re no different to any other team at this stage – we are all dreaming about walking out in the final and winning the cup.
“It’s only natural for the supporters of every club to be looking at there being no Celtic or Rangers around at this stage and believing there’s an opportunity.
“We will all be thinking it is hopefully our time. Every manager left will be thinking the same thing.
“We can’t pretend otherwise, it does open the competition up for all of us.
“But we can’t look too far ahead. If we do there will be four teams left and we won’t be one of them.”
The Dons are full of confidence after following up a 1-0 win against Dundee United with a 2-0 success against Hibernian at Easter Road on Saturday.
McInnes’ side have already enjoyed a 3-1 victory at Fir Park this season. However, the Dons manager knows it will count for nothing against Stuart McCall’s men, who were defeated 2-0 by St Johnstone on Sunday.
He added: “It’s an opportunity for both clubs to progress and we need to play the game rather than the occasion.
“We are going into the game with a bit of confidence.
“On Saturday we had a good level of performance from every player. When we play that way we are very tough to play against.
“It was a really dominant display. The goals came later on in the game, but we never allowed any frustration to get to us and we got the reward.
“It was great to see the work pay off and to send so many supporters home happy. That’s the level we want to get to again.
“So we are going in on the back of a good result. But just because Motherwell had a poor one doesn’t make the game any less dangerous.
“Motherwell are a good side whether they won, lost or drew at the weekend.
“They’re the one team other than Celtic in recent years to show a level of consistency and they deserve respect because of it.”