Derek McInnes
“I thought we created the best chance in the first half just before they scored. Niall McGinn had an opportunity after great play by Jonny Hayes. He probably should have scored and then not long after that, the boy Roberts picks the ball up. We were conscious of that danger and we tried to stop the service into him but it is an unstoppable shot. He brought real quality to the game.
“For the second goal, we should have done better because Rogic gets too much space in front of our back line and then both players get sucked to the ball. We were a bit untidy with our defensive work there.
“Although we did not offer much, I didn’t think there was too much going on in the first half. Apart from the goals, I thought defensively we were doing ok but as I say not offering enough at the other end.
“At half-time I still felt that at 2-0 we were still in the game. I told the players to go and win the second half and see what happened.
“But then the third goal went in. The third goal was the poorest goal for me. I said to Tony that is the one that will come back to bite us because we have scored late goals here before. Celtic concede a lot of late goals – I think that is a pattern.
“3-0 seemed unsurmountable and that is the way it eventually turned out.
“With 40 minutes still to go, the players deserve a lot of credit for not folding and for not giving it up. They came back fighting strong.
“I think the game had parallels with the league campaign. We made them work for it in the end, we were not going away, but ultimately we fell a bit short. And that probably was the case with the league challenge as well.
“I said when the post-split fixtures came out, I hoped we would have got Celtic in the first or second game. I was at least hoping for a home fixture but we got an away game at St Johnstone. The people who make these decisions probably thought Celtic would win it in the second or third game, so today’s scenario was always a possibility.
“Today is about Celtic. They deserve credit for their league campaign. The criticism that has come the manager’s way and the players’ way, it has not been through their league form. Their points tally will be up there with any Championship winning team. They have only lost three games and two of them were against us. We needed someone else to lay a glove on them as well for us, but that did not happen. They deserve credit today.
“From our perspective, we need to look at the improvement we need from my team going forward, the improvement from the players in the dressing room and the improvement we will get from the players outwith. I think we need to make sure that we are smart with our work in the summer and identify key players to bring in and make sure we are ready when it starts again. If we get into a similar stage to the one we were in this season, hopefully we will be better equipped to go the full distance.
“I think my team deserve a lot of credit because we are the one team who have taken on the responsibility to challenge Celtic and to create something of a league title race when we really should not be anywhere near them because of their greater funds.
“There is still criticism that comes my team’s way and I don’t see the logic in that. Rangers are going to have to spend millions and millions to get closer to Celtic. Yet Rangers’ budget is three times mine. We do well for what we work with.
“We are disappointed because we got ourselves in a challenging position. Hopefully next season, if we get ourselves in a similar position, we will have learnt from this season’s experience both on and off the park.
“I believed we could have mounted a challenge this season, as I felt Celtic would be poorer after losing their two centre backs. We have closed the gap and we took it to the third last game.
“Winning against Celtic here is maybe one more box we need to tick and I think that is important, but we were certainly worthy winners in the two games at Pittodrie. The criticism the season before was that we could not beat Celtic when it came to it. I think we have answered that point this season.
“At the beginning of the campaign people asked how could we beat 75 points, an SPFL record outside an Old Firm team, and we all agreed it was a tough challenge, but I believe we will beat it. We need four points to equal it and six points to beat it. We will then be the first team outside the Old Firm with 70 odd points two seasons in a row, so I see the improvement in my team.
“Sometimes this season when we have lost cheap goals and had poor performances, you find it hard to see that improvement but we are where we are and we will continue to try and get better. We will continue to try and improve the players we have got and we will try and get in players who will help the good players we have got here to sustain a longer challenge.
“It is important the squad improves over the summer. We know the challenges ahead of us. We know we have to try and meet them head on. We strive for that improvement and that improvement comes in all sorts of ways.
“Any criticism levelled at us is for our performances in the cups this season. I get that. We want to be in position to win a cup as we did a couple of years ago. But we also want to be in a position to sustain a league campaign so we need good players to add to the good players we have got.
“There is a lot to like about my team. I can talk about what we don’t have and who we need to bring in, but I am also quick to remind people what we have got. We have got players and a team I value on the pitch. We have got boys who care and we have got a good togetherness and that can take you a long way if we can keep adding to the quality.
“Hopefully we get the backing and the opportunity to do that. As a club you need to keep working and keep wanting to improve.”
“Hopefully we get the backing and the opportunity to do that. As a club you need to keep working and keep wanting to improve.”
