Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes has urged his players to show that Saturday’s poor performance at Hearts was a one-off by securing another Scottish Cup final appearance.
The Dons were punished for a poor showing at Tynecastle in a display McInnes labelled tepid, lacklustre and laboured.
McInnes knows his players can’t afford to repeat those negative aspects when they face Motherwell in this Saturday’s semi-final at Hampden Park.
He said: “We’ve got a great chance to get to a final and hopefully we take that opportunity as well because it’s a fantastic thing to experience being in a cup final with Aberdeen.
“We’ve got a great opportunity to get into the final. We’ll go into this game and try to right a few wrongs. We should be bouncing back into work by the start of the week and focused on getting to a cup final.
“It’s a fantastic experience with Aberdeen and it is why we signed up for this club. We’ve reached three cup finals, won one and lost two, and we want to get back to another final.
“There are not too many who played their way into contention for the game at Tynecastle.
“But it’s not a pattern we’ve seen and I’m pretty sure that whoever is picked will be pretty keen to show that was a one-off.”
The Aberdeen manager made no attempt to hide his disappointment at his side’s showing in the capital against the Jambos but he is confident the display of his players was an uncharacteristic one and is expecting a strong reaction both at Hampden on Saturday and in the remaining post-split fixtures. He said: “I think on Saturday’s performance there’s not too many who managed to cement their place in the game, but I’m conscious of the fact I’m listening to what I’m saying.
“I’m really pleased with what we’ve been giving recently and by in large to be up their joint second in the league and in a semi-final, it shows you we’ve got good players and it’s not normally a pattern they have a poor performance.
“We didn’t give the best account of ourselves, but I’m pretty sure whoever’s picked for the Motherwell game will be keen to do exactly that.
“We’ve managed to win one final and we’ve lost two, but we know the occasion and what it means.
“That’s why we signed up to Aberdeen, to take part in these types of games and hopefully we can be good enough.”