GRAEME Shinnie, who will lead Aberdeen out in the William Hill Scottish Cup final at Hampden on Saturday, has insisted there is no ill-feeling between him and Ryan Jack, the player he has replaced as captain.
Derek McInnes, the Pittodrie club’s manager, has named Shinnie as his skipper for the meeting with Celtic amid speculation that Jack, whose contract is set to expire, is poised to join bitter rivals Rangers this summer.
Jack has been sidelined since undergoing a groin operation at the start of this month, but he came on at half-time in the Ladbrokes Premiership game against Partick Thistle at Firhill on Sunday and has a chance of starting this weekend.
Shinnie, who lifted the cup in his final game for Inverness Caledonian Thistle after their 2-1 win over Falkirk back in 2015, revealed he has spoken to his team mate and stressed there everyone in the Aberdeen team was concentrating on securing a victory.
“It is not going to change the way myself, Jacko or the team are going to play,” he said. “It is all about the team and not who is going to be captain.
“We are all leaders on the pitch and it is all about the team and how we go and win the Scottish Cup.
“We have all had a chat. We’ve all got this game to focus on and it can’t be about anything else. We need to focus on what we want to do for the game.”
Asked if he expected to be made captain permanently, Shinnie said: “No, it is just as the game comes with the situation we are in. That is the way we have dealt with it and the situation so far. It is all about the club.”
“It is all about the team. We all want the same thing. We all want to win the Scottish Cup and that is what we are focusing on.
“I don’t read anything into it. I will go out and do the same things as if I didn’t have the armband and likewise with Jacko. We have a great relationship, the whole team has and we have a great spirit. It is all about the team and winning the cup.”
Meanwhile, Mark Reynolds, the Aberdeen centre half who was this week recalled to the Scotland squad, has brushed off remarks from Brendan Rodgers, the Celtic manager, about the “long-ball football” his side played.
Rodgers raised eyebrows with his comments about McInnes’s tactics after his team had romped to a 3-1 win in a league game at Pittodrie at the start of this month.
“I really like Brendan Rodgers,” he said. “Every time I see him I think the guy just oozes class. He is obviously a great manager, you saw that when he was down south.
“It doesn’t really bother me, I love playing the long ball. The football purists always slaughter long ball and say you need to play total football and silky soccer, but there are guys down south who have kept teams in the Premier League for years playing long ball football.
“It is what it is. We don’t really concern ourselves with what’s been said, what this one said or what that one said. We like to keep everything in the dressing room. If we score with a long ball on Saturday I won’t be complaining.”
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