ABERDEEN manager Derek McInnes aims to find a way to maintain his team’s competitive edge after they set up a top-of-the-table clash with Celtic with a 1-0 victory over Hibernian.
Gary Mackay-Steven’s 38th-minute goal was enough to earn his side three points at Easter Road and remain level on points with Ladbrokes Premiership leaders Celtic.
Aberdeen’s next game is against the champions at Pittodrie on October 25 but Celtic play twice before then, against Hibs in the Betfred Cup semi-finals and Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
“We don’t have a game next week, that’s our own doing with the semi-finals being played,” McInnes said. “We need to really fine-tune our training and keep that edge to our play. It’s been a bit stop-start this season with a couple of international breaks. We will certainly need that edge going into the game against Celtic.”
Despite the international break preceding Saturday’s encounter, it was fiercely contested from the start. McInnes started with an attack-minded side featuring Mackay-Steven, Stevie May, Adam Rooney, Ryan Christie and Kenny McLean, who supplied a brilliant first-time pass for the opener.
He ended it with five players on the park who can play in central defence as Hibs threw caution to the wind as they chased an equaliser.
The Aberdeen boss was delighted to come through another difficult test with their unbeaten league record intact and enthused about the occasion after a 19,033 crowd saw an absorbing game of football.
“I like coming here anyway and we have managed to get some good results here in the past,” McInnes said.
“I remember my first game for Aberdeen, it was a 0-0 here, a bottom-six game in front of 6500.
“It was the worst game you have ever seen. Two teams with nothing to play for, a drab end-of-season game.
“Now it is vibrant, Hibs are going the right way, we feel we are in a good place and ready to kick on.
“It was good to see the energy and passion from both sets of supporters and a lot of good players on show.
“It was pleasing to win what was always going to be a tough game for us.”
Hibs head coach Neil Lennon also managed to enjoy the game despite being frustrated with his team’s play in the final third.
“I want more,” he said. “We can’t keep saying we are playing well and dropping points.
“That’s one point out of nine at home. That has to change and I need more from the forward players. They know that.
“But the attitude and quality was very good, we played well.
“So I have no complaints. I enjoyed the game even though I am very disappointed with the result.”
Aberdeen striker Adam Rooney agreed that preparation would be key to getting a good result against Celtic.
“You’re always worried how you’ll perform after a break but we just have to get ready for Celtic,” said Rooney.
“We’ll be confident, it will be a packed stadium. We want to do as well as we can.
“Celtic have ran away with it [the league] the last couple of years but we are improving.
“Defensively we’ve been excellent. The whole team has worked hard at trying to cut down the number of chances we give away.”
“We know we have enough players in the team who have the ability to score, we’re confident we’ll get a goal from somewhere. Keeping clean sheets helps that.”
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