Derek McInnes

“I am just delighted to get through.

“The reaction when the draw was made, away to Hamilton, we knew it was going to be so tough.

“And it was exactly that.

“You have to give credit to Hamilton. I thought their subs were good. I thought Steven Boyd was excellent for them and kept us on our toes the whole game. Until you get that second goal you are never comfortable because you are away from home against a SPFL Premiership team.

“Hamilton are brilliant at what they do. They never give it up. They always ask questions of you and they keep going. They have a brilliant attitude towards their work.

“I thought we just about kept them at arm’s length.

“We got the all-important first goal.

“It was one of the few times Scott Wright managed to get away from Grant Gillespie in the first half. That stretched them a bit and they get a bit disjointed. MacKinnon has come out to block the Shinnie shot. It was a lovely finish from Kenny with his right foot. It was not an easy chance and he took it well. I am pleased for him to get a goal because a few of the other midfielders have scored already this year. We want more goals from Kenny this season and hopefully he can take confidence from his effort tonight. It was a lovely strike with his right foot.

“I thought once we went in front it was all about trying to manage the game and I thought in spells we did. In spells we did not do it as much as I would have hoped. It was not a great watch to honest but it is the cup and it is all about getting through.

“Joe has had a couple of saves that you would expect him to make and Hamilton got into a couple of good areas but never exploited those opportunities. I thought by and large we just about managed to get a deserved win.

“I was worried about Joe when he got his bang in the head. There was no blame attached to it. But I saw clearly that he got caught but thankfully he was ok. He is different class.

“The game is always different here because the pitch makes it quicker. It is more frantic. Their shape was similar (to Sunday). They still went with a front two and went a bit lop sided with McMann pushing up from that full back area. But it was the same in terms of us trying to get some control through the middle. Hamilton are strong in there with their energy and their quality through Crawford. It was similar in that sense but we did not have anywhere near the same possession or clear-cut opportunities as Sunday.

“But we are away from home on a difficult surface.

“Unlike Sunday it was never comfortable at any point.

“The draw is tough. Again away from home against an Premiership side. But we beat Motherwell in the quarter final the year we won it. We went down to ten men after ten minutes but dug out a result. It will be a tough game though. Hopefully we can go into it in good form.

“We are a new team. I thought last week in Europe we showed that especially during the first hour. We are not as experienced as we were. We have lost international players but we will try and gain that experience as we go along and winning at places like tonight will only help us going forward.

“It was such a brilliant turnout from the supporters tonight. I was not expecting as many to come. It was brilliant to see so many get behind the team and hopefully we can reward them by getting to another final and having a shot at taking a trophy back to Aberdeen.

“We now move onto Ross County. We will dust the boys down and see how they are physically. We will go up there Friday night and try and pick the freshest team and the team which we believe is capable of getting a result. It is our fourth game in nine days so we are mindful of that. The players have Sunday and Monday off. It is all about one last big effort to try and get the three points.”

“We now move onto Ross County. We will dust the boys down and see how they are physically. We will go up there Friday night and try and pick the freshest team and the team which we believe is capable of getting a result. It is our fourth game in nine days so we are mindful of that. The players have Sunday and Monday off. It is all about one last big effort to try and get the three points.”