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Reds back on rails with right man at controls

Aberdeen's Graeme Shinnie and manager Derek McInnes.
Aberdeen's Graeme Shinnie and manager Derek McInnes.

Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie insists he will not let the six-week saga of Rangers’ pursuit of Derek McInnes derail his team’s season.

The Dons’ form has dropped dramatically since Rangers’ interest in the Aberdeen manager began, with the Pittodrie side taking just four points from a possible 15.

However, the matter came to a dramatic conclusion last night, with McInnes confirming that he will not be making the move to Ibrox.

The Aberdeen manager and his assistant Tony Docherty have been absent from the Dons’ last two training sessions ahead of tonight’s Premiership meeting with Dundee at Dens Park.

But Shinnie says this week’s off-field events will have no impact on his side’s performance tonight.

He said: “ As players, we have to focus and we’ve tried not to let the speculation affect us and we shouldn’t let it affect us. We need to keep on the straight and narrow and ensure our results pick up.

“We want to do as well as we can, which means closing the gap on Celtic as well as we can. But, given the form they are in, it has been tough.

“After that, second place is where we want to be. We haven’t hit the heights as we know we can but we were still in a position where we lost six points to Rangers last week but we are still on the same points as them. We’re still in a position where we are fighting for it and it will be a tough period between now and the Christmas break so we have to get our heads down and focus.”

There has been a frustration within Pittodrie at the protracted saga and Shinnie had been keen to see it coming to a conclusion.

He added: “Naturally, you wanted some sort of clarification that lets all parties move forward, but it was out of our hands and nothing to do with us.

“As players, all we can do is focus on preparing as well as we can for the game we have coming up.

“The training has been good. It has been as normal. The tempo has been brilliant. The players are more focused on trying to get back to winning ways.”

It is the second time McInnes has rejected the chance to leave his Aberdeen job. He turned down the opportunity to move to English Championship club Sunderland when they approached in the summer.

Shinnie is not surprised that such a club was keen to prise McInnes away from Pittodrie.

He said: “He was the manager who brought me here. We have had some great times at Aberdeen. If the team is doing well then there are going to be clubs coming looking for the manager. There was a big turnaround of players in the summer.

“That was testament to how well the team has been doing. It is part and parcel of football. You have to get on with it. The only way we can do that is by focusing on the game against Dundee.”