Derek McInnes plays down talk of Aberdeen exit

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes looks downcast after his side's late Scottish Cup final defeat by Celtic. Picture: SNS

McInnes remains the bookies’ favourite to replace David Moyes as Sunderland manager with Aberdeen bracing themselves for a possible approach from the Wearside outfit this week. But, as he reflected on Saturday’s agonising Scottish Cup final stoppage-time defeat to Celtic at Hampden, McInnes was adamant he remains fully focused on preparing for next season with the Dons.

“I’ve said it often enough, I love working here,” he said. “I think it’s a brilliant club, I feel at home here. It would take something special for me to want to leave.

“The work’s ongoing. Totally. For the last seven or eight months, we’ve been trying to implement bringing players in here. We’ve anticipated a few players leaving, we’ve tried really hard to keep one or two, with some being late on in terms of leaving.

“But the work’s been ongoing, it’s constant. You don’t get a chance to stop and reflect. From now, the focus is on recruitment and getting good players in. I feel as though my players look to me to make sure we get other good players working in the building and ready to go again.”

Aberdeen finished runners-up to treble winners Celtic in all three domestic competitions this season, a measure of their consistency under McInnes as the best of the rest in Scottish football behind the dominant and far more powerfully resourced  champions.

“I still feel that while finishing second, even saying it, doesn’t always sit right with me, there’s no disgrace or embarrassment finishing second to this Celtic team,” added McInnes.

“I think that for the distance between them and the rest, even just the financial side of it, we can bridge the gap in so many different aspects – organisation and bringing in a certain type of player.

“My whole squad equates to [a salary of] £42,000 a week, my whole squad. I am sure there are probably one or two Celtic players on around that figure. For us to bridge the gap it is so difficult to find a player who can make a difference in a final against them.

“If they gave out a cup on Saturday for effort and big hearts, I think we would have won it. But class tells in defining moments. We had moments to get our noses in front on Saturday and we didn’t. It was through no lack of effort from the players.

“They couldn’t have given me any more. We arrived for pre-season training 351 days ago. We have got a tight squad and they have knocked their pans in from minute one. They have given us a brilliant season. It could have been more special if we had won on Saturday. But the focus now falls upon myself, the recruitment team and the board to bring in reinforcements that allow us to be confident enough that this period we are in will continue and we can get to more cup finals and have a shot at winning a trophy.

“I feel this is what we do now at Aberdeen; we get to cup finals and turn up at Hampden. I like that, there’s a confidence about us now, we feel at home here. The performance on Saturday was miles ahead of where we were in November in the League Cup final against Celtic. So we will look to get good players in and I am confident we will have more cup finals.”