what Derek McInnes said to the press after the game.
The Game
“I’m disappointed.
“We’ve came here without six starters and have been really up against it with injuries.
“We’ve tried to put together a team to come out and still be competitive against a good Rangers side. They’ve assembled a good and large squad and we’ve got to come down and try keep ourselves in the game and pick and choose our moments.
“We’ve also got to get a lot of things go our way.
“Up until today we’ve only got one natural wide player at the club and Connor McLennan goes off injured after ten minutes.
“We’re playing a centre forward wide right already and then playing a left back wide so it curtails what we were trying to do.
“Joe’s had a couple of good saves in the first half, but I thought for long spells we were ok. We tried, as we do when we come to Glasgow, to try and make sure we play smart in that first 45 minutes and not put too many bodies forward and get our clean sheet and then be a wee bit more progressive in the second half.
“A couple of weeks ago we needed a lot of things to go our way and I thought both penalties today were very harsh on us.
“The first one I can understand why the referee’s gave it, but Lewis should maybe go down as I think Defoe’s fouled him in the build up to it. Lewis should maybe go down and he’s been too honest, a bit off balance and has put his foot on Katic’s foot and he’s went down. We’ve had to overcome that blow but we’re still in the game at 1-0 as difficult as it is. We knew Rangers would have the majority of possession.
“The second penalty kick, words fail me for how that can be given.
“It’s a terrible decision and has a huge impact on the end result. Rangers were good in spells and they’re a good side who are playing with confidence, but for a lot of the game we were fine and were still trying to pick and choose our moments. There’s no doubt the second goal effectively kills the game with us going down to ten men. I thought the reaction from the Rangers player was bad enough but for the referee to be kidded by that and give the penalty is really disappointing. Then on in you’re as well putting the lights out as the game was over.
“I spoke to the referee after, but that’s between us.
“I think when he sees both, particularly the second one, but I’ll not put words in his mouth. I’m disappointed he’s just not seen it for what it is.
Injury list
“It’s mad it really is.
“We’re up against it with injuries and now Andy misses out next week against Celtic and that has another impact on us. We need to get some bodies back, but the injuries aren’t getting easy for us. “I’ve never known injuries like it in my time at the club, but credit to the players. Boys are playing out of position and battled away manfully and they gave everything again today.
“It looks like a tear for Connor. Grade one will be a couple of weeks at best and anything more than that will be the end of the season for him. Mackay-Steven won’t be back for next week and McGinn’s got his operation so we’re really short on wide players. Hopefully we can get one or two back, but without those players like Shinnie, Mackay-Steven and Logan, who might be back for next week, we now need a big last effort from everybody at the club to get our European spot.”
European race
“Today wasn’t going to decide anything about European spots and we’d have needed a lot of things to go our way to get a result.
“We move on now with three games left and we know we’ve got a couple of wins in us. We’ll see who’s fit and available and we’ll go have a go again on Saturday.
“We’ve got our own importance to get the result next week for our own sake and hopefully we can get on with the job in hand.
“We’ll need to see who’s fit, but I’m sure whoever’s selected will go out and give a good account of themselves and to get that all important three points.”
