Aberdeen assistant manager Tony Docherty believes the only benefit from this week’s floodlight failure at Pittodrie was that it disrupted Ross County manager Jim McIntyre’s spying mission ahead of today’s Premiership meeting at Dingwall.
McIntyre and his assistant manager Billy Dodds would have learned little from their trip to watch the Dons take on Motherwell on Tuesday night, with the game called off after only seven minutes of play when the stadium’s lights failed.
It was a frustrating experience for the players and supporters but Docherty says the one saving grace of the lights going out is that McIntyre has been kept in the dark.
He said: “Jim McIntyre and Billy Dodds were here to watch the game the other night. I told them we got the game called off so they couldn’t get an advantage by seeing what we were doing.
“Every cloud has a silver lining.
“It was a frustrating experience, first and foremost for the supporters and then the players.
“We were thorough with the amount of preparation work that we had done for the game.
“To get it called off after seven minutes was disappointing as it was an opportunity for us to pick up some momentum after hitting the buffers with a draw against St Johnstone.
“We always expect to win at home, so it was disappointing but there are loads of points to play for and that game will come round again.
“I feel for the supporters. It was a horrible night but they came out to support the team. Unfortunately, through circumstances outwith the club’s control, it never went ahead. There is a frustration but hopefully we can use that to our advantage in our next performance.”
The Dons ran out 4-0 winners when the sides met at Pittodrie in October, with Jonny Hayes, Shay Logan, Niall McGinn and Jayden Stockley all on target.
County have improved since that encounter and go into today’s match unbeaten in five games.
Docherty says the Dons have pinpointed the threat posed by Ross County’s talisman Liam Boyce. The Northern Ireland international has netted nine of the 17 league goals scored by the Staggies this season.
He added: “Liam Boyce is an important player for them. He gets a lot of help from Craig Curran, who does a lot of work for him.
“I would stress they are not a one-man team but Liam does bring something to Ross County that makes them better.”
Aberdeen midfielder Connor MacLennan joined Brechin City on a one-month emergency loan deal yesterday. The 17-year-old could feature for the Glebe Park side against Stranraer this afternoon.