Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes was left frustrated in defeat at Hampden Park when a ten minute purple patch from Celtic in the first half decided the game.

“Very disappointed. We came here to win. We knew the challenge in front of us, but we needed a better 90 minute performance to overcome a team like Celtic.

Good Start

“We came here with a really attacking team, that’s been our pattern this season and we’ve had a lot of benefit from that. We wanted to try and strike that first blow in the game and show the confidence that certainly we showed in last week’s game. We wanted to do that from the outset and let Celtic know we were there and I thought we did that.

“And we had some good opportunities to strike that first blow.

“Matty Kennedy carried the fight and put some great crosses in and Sam Cosgrove had a couple of chances at that back post area – maybe with the benefit of a few games, he makes more of that. Then Ryan Hedges had a chance when Scott Wright put him through, and I think that trying to get at their defence and to be as positive as we could was important for us.

“In possession we had some good moments during those early stages.

“We wanted to try and make it that type of game. We did not want Celtic to enjoy the game and wanted to make them think twice.”

Some Good Areas

“The trade off with that is clearly that when you have so many attacking players in the team, you’ve to try and deal with the threat of Elyounoussi, Rogic, Christie and Edouard. We knew we would have to defend well and stay fully concentrated. For a ten or fifteen minute spell midway through the first half, we never quite managed that. Their movement spooked us more than it did last week. Edouard coming back for them was a big part of that. He doesn’t stand up against the centre-halves, he gives them a decision to make and we didn’t deal with it for a spell. We dropped a bit too deep.

“He takes the defenders back towards their goal sometimes and that played a part in their first goal. Christie has a brilliant strike and people will rightly applaud it, but when he takes that step inside, he has to be confronted by an Aberdeen shirt. We were too deep and once he hits it, Joe Lewis had no chance. Last week, those spaces were tighter, we weren’t giving any encouragement to that kind of shot, he’d have had to come across the pitch.

“The second goal was untidy, we’d had a chance to clear it, then Rogic, it’s an unusual cross, he sclaffs it up in the air, it popped up over Joe. Maybe in hindsight Andy Considine will feel he could deal with it before it drops, but really it came out of nothing. It was a ten minute spell where Celtic’s movement at the top end caused us problems and it ended up winning them the game.

“We were better as soon as we went to a back four.

“We took more responsibility against the opponent and we stayed in the game to the break. We spoke then about getting the next goal as early as possible and I did feel we were the better team in the second half. We were braver in our starting positions, we turned the ball over more, we stopped “Celtic enjoying the game and we got into some good areas. We had three or four shots from the edge of the box but we didn’t show the quality we needed. We needed that goal to spark us but unfortunately for us, it wasn’t enough on the day.

“We acknowledge the better team won, we needed a better 90 minutes performance and we needed to be more clinical and braver with our starting positions. Hopefully if we can get through this season’s cup competitions, if we come up against Celtic in a final or semi-final we remember that.”

Be Positive

“We wanted to try and get the attacking players in the team. Matty was a like for like swap for Jonny Hayes, we wanted Scotty Wright and Marley Watkins to play against McGregor and Brown and work off them, with Sam as the focal point.

“It meant Ryan Hedges playing on the right, but his game’s in a good place and again, he was good for the 90 minute, in different roles because it changed when we went to a back four. He showed good personality, he knows he should do better with his chance, he could have taken it earlier, but by and large I thought he played well.

“That’s true of the team as a whole, we didn’t have too many poor performances, but when Celtic are playing that well, you need to make sure that you’re better than we were in that ten minute spell that cost us.”

“We went with the team we did because they have been doing so well and carrying that fight. I still thought we had an element of that, but we never really had that punch to make the difference today. We will keep working towards that and keeping trying to be as positive as we can. The players have received a lot of credit for the way we have played, but there is a trade off when you play against a team of Celtic’s quality. You have to make it count in those attacking areas.”

Fitness update

“It was a gamble starting Sam but again we wanted to do the right thing today. We thought with Matty playing, and Jonny initially starting, and with the players we had in the wider areas, and with the way Celtic set up; we thought we would have good moments to get crosses into the box. And that played out for us, we just never scored. Sam had three chances. We did not want to put him on when it was too late. Sam will now benefit from playing the game so that is a positive.

“Five minutes before naming the team on the training ground on Saturday Jonny slipped and twisted his body awkwardly. It looks like he has a tear in his groin. It was a tough one as Jonny has been a huge player for us. He will get scanned tomorrow. I thought Matty was terrific considering how long he has been out.  Marley burst his nose and also I think he did his hamstring overstretching. We will see how he is tomorrow.”

Friday

“It is important we now knuckle down and get back to League business. We have too many important games coming up. We know that teams who have a big disappointment can have a hangover, but we need to come out fighting again and be the team we want to be this season.

“We need to remind the players they have been doing a lot of things right this season and they need to continue doing that. We have to get back to winning ways as quickly as possible and Friday gives us that chance.”