Derek McInnes
“Anytime time you get a winning performance at Easter Road you have to be pleased.
“You have to do a lot of things well.
“I thought it was a very even game if true be told. It was fiercely contested between both boxes. I thought we managed to contain Hibs attacking threat quite well up until the final third (of the game). I thought Hibs were good during that moment of the game and they asked the question but we managed to see the threat off.
“The goal we score is of real quality and that is what has separated the teams. I thought we deserved to win the game because of that goal. The passage of play, the weight of the pass from Kenny, the timing of the run and the calmness of the finish from Gary was excellent.
“Gary was unlucky with the opportunity just prior to that. But it did not put him off making a similar type of run. It was fitting reward for his efforts. I am really pleased for Gary on a personal level. I said prior to the game he was starting because of the way he has trained this week. He has had one or two niggles so the international break came at a good time for him. I wanted a ball carrier, I wanted more pace in the team for this game. We needed to have someone to carry that threat in the wider areas. Because of the way he has trained made me pick him yesterday. I am pleased for Gary that he has managed to have a huge part in helping us win the game.
“(After the goal) From then on in, we had something to hold onto but we wanted to still have a (attacking) threat. I thought we could have broken on them better. We defended in numbers and defended a bit deeper than I maybe wanted us to.
“I think you have to credit Hibs. Neil has thrown different things at us – he stretched us with two wide players. He had Swanson playing in the number 10 role and had two strikers. He also put Hanlon up at the death. You have to expect to deal with that and I thought by and large we did deal with the ball up to the box. We won tackles, we got our head on things and actually Joe has not had too much to do.
“When you come to Hibs, with the amount of good players they have got, you are going to have to defend well and as I say I thought we did that.
“Third cleansheet in a row. We are pleased with that. It gives you the platform to win any game. And when you have players who can produce a bit of quality such as Gary has, you always feel you have a chance to win games.
“Scott McKenna has done very well (since coming into the side). For the first time today he was up against a different type of striker. Against Motherwell he was up against Moult and Bowman, against St Johnstone last week he was up against McLean and Cummings. On both occasions the ball was coming forward quickly. Today he was up against a busy number 10 in McGeough and Stokes was working him short and playing in those little half positions that asks questions of you. I thought he dealt with the challenge very well.
“Arnason, McKenna and O’Connor, the three of them have been quite pivotal in nullifying the attacking threat of the opposition. I thought for too many games this season, even winning performances, I thought we were giving the opposition too much encouragement. Although we were finding ways to win we were not having it all our own way as much as I would have liked in certain games. So I think McKenna has certainly played a part in that. It is only a start for him but we have every confidence that he can go on and get better and better.
“I think that was Gary’s best performance by a long way. It has been a bit stop start for him. I mentioned the point when we signed players in the summer – we were picking up pieces with a lot of the boys. Some of them have not played for a couple of years. They had become training players. Gary was one of them, Stevie May another, Greg Stewart had not played for a year. But they are worth persevering with.
“It pleases me that we have still been winning games and getting to where we are whilst getting these boys up and running. Gary played with a freshness and enthusiasm and energy today. He was a constant threat when he was picking the ball up from minute one. Yes he tired but he will feel better about himself, playing his part in a winning performance.
“There was a great crowd and atmosphere. I like playing here anyway. We have managed to have some good results here in the past in the league. I remember my first game for Aberdeen was a 0-0 here, 6,000 crowd in a bottom six fixture. It was the worst game you have ever seen! You see the difference today, two vibrant teams – Hibs are going the right way, we feel we are in a good place and ready to try and kick on. So it was good to see the energy and passion from both sets of supporters. There were a lot of good players on show. It was pleasing to win what was always going to be a tough game for us.
“We have had a good start to our league campaign (going nine games unbeaten) other than the Kilmarnock game at home when we chucked away two points by being negligent and not hammering home our advantage – although Kilmarnock played well in the second half to be fair. Also we scraped a draw at Murrayfield against Hearts which we were lucky to do. Other than that, the league form has been decent. I think if you said that nine games in, half way through October, being joint top of the league, with a new team, you would take that. So I can’t really pick out too many faults.
“Obviously we don’t have a game next weekend. So we need to really finetune our training to keep that edge to our play. It has been a bit stop start this season. It feels even more so than previous seasons. We will try and keep some sort of edge to our training because we will certainly need that edge going into the game against Celtic.”
“Obviously we don’t have a game next weekend. So we need to really finetune our training to keep that edge to our play. It has been a bit stop start this season. It feels even more so than previous seasons. We will try and keep some sort of edge to our training because we will certainly need that edge going into the game against Celtic.”
