Derek McInnes | Post Match Quotes

“I thought the first goal was always going to be very important.

“My take on the game, the way we started, one off the bar, one off the line, it looked as if that goal was coming early on. After that initial 20 minute period when we had started like a train and put Morton on the back foot, Morton then took a breath and thought, no harm done and they got a lift from that and started to get a bit of confidence from the fact we had not scored.

“In the period before half time we were a bit slow with our build up play, a bit safe with our work and we needed to try and bring that intensity and needed players to run into space a bit more. Credit to Morton, they worked hard to deny us space. Their midfield four played close to their back four the whole game. The way their two front boys play up top, especially Quitongo, we had to fully concentrate as they can go quickly from a defending situation to an attacking situation quickly because of the way their strikers play on the defender’s shoulders.

“When Rooney hit the bar, that could have been pivotal as it was right before half time.

“We said during the break that the players needed to be confident, be relentless with their work. We also changed it a little bit tactically to try and get Hayes, Shinnie, McLean and McGinn running forward more and receiving the ball more. Considine tucked in to form a back three which allowed the midfielders not to worry about what was happening behind them and they could just go and play. To an extent it worked but Morton still had some good moments which always made you concerned that the job would not get done. But the team that I picked to start the game I always thought would be the team who win the game so I was reluctant to change it.

“Sometimes when you are playing against a side who are working so hard to put out fires and to keep us away from their goal, sometimes if you keep possession and keep working them side to side and keep asking questions of them and testing their organisation then something will happen – and thankfully we got the goal from Rooney.

“From then on we passed up a few more opportunities. Morton deserve a lot of credit but my players deserve a lot of credit for having the wherewithal to keep going and the best team won. Morton were exactly how I thought they would be; defensively sound, they defended deep, had a good organisation about them. They are a team who are so well drilled and well managed.

“It is always easier to stop a team playing than trying to find ways to win a game so that was a challenge for us today and we managed to overcome that. Good teams keep doing the right thing, they keep going and they score a lot of late goals and that is what we have done recently.

“So I am absolutely delighted.

“We knew it would not all be about us today. It is also how you react to these situations when everyone starts to get a bit edgy. It is important that you have that composure and you trust yourself to get the job done.
“I am not saying that we were always going to win but I was confident that we eventually would find a way to score. The majority of the game was going towards their goal. We needed to be more cuter and patient and bring intensity and speed to it. When you start to get spaces to open things up then players like McLean and Maddison can then have more of an impact on proceedings.

“We just kept doing the right thing.

“Big games like this, semi-finals, you either deal with the situation or you don’t. We have now had three league cup semi-finals in four years and we have won two. The aim is to go and try and win the cup again. I want my players period here and my period here not always to be related to cup final win at Parkhead in 2014. I want other references. I want an era of success and not just one cup.

“Many teams can win a cup, with the greatest of respect, but not many teams can do what we have done in the league over the past few seasons. We have sustained a challenge of some sort. We have regularly got into European football. For our boys to keep winning week in week out, home and away, there is a demand on the players.

“The demand on them is difficult to deal with a times but that is the situation at Aberdeen.

“A draw feels like a defeat. Winning games like today is easier because we have had that experience.

“We have made it six wins out of six which is not an easy thing to do. It shows the focus and professionalism of the players and the motivation of the players. I am delighted for my players. They have worked so hard.

“We made it clear at the start of the season our objective was to go and win trophies and we are one game away from doing that. It is important we focus on league business now because we want to do well in everything we do. It would be good to go into the game in a months’ time on the back of some league victories.

“Whoever we play in the final will be a challenge. Both potential opponents caused us problems. I am more concerned about how we are going to be in the final and not who we are playing against. Whoever it is, we will be the underdogs.”