Not all doom and gloom at Aberdeen, insists boss Derek McInnes

Derek McInnes insists it is not “all doom and gloom” at Aberdeen after their goalless draw at Partick Thistle left them on four games without a win.

A Ladbrokes Premiership point apiece was all both sides deserved from a mostly dire match played in blustery conditions.

The Dons missed the opportunity to move to three points behind second-placed Rangers, who host Celtic on Sunday, with Hibernian moving to within two points of Aberdeen after their 2-0 derby win over Hearts on Friday night.

As he turned his attention to the William Hill Scottish Cup quarter-final replay against in-form Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Tuesday night, McInnes remained positive.

He said: “I am not surprised where Rangers and Celtic are and I am not surprised where Hibs are but we are trying to concentrate on ourselves and meet the demands we have met in the past few seasons.

“Each year it is more difficult to reach them but I still think we are capable of finishing the season strongly.

“We are in a better position than a lot of teams.

“We have the opportunity to get into a semi-final. We are third in the league, we have opportunities to win games and get to where we want to get to, so it is not all doom and gloom.

“I think it is important for me and my players and staff to stick together, work hard and hopefully, as my experience shows in these types of runs, when you go four games without a win, sometimes by working that bit harder and taking more responsibility for your performance, you can turn the corner.

“Sometimes you can overthink it.

“I am sure if we can get ourselves into a semi-final on Tuesday it will no doubt help going into the next league game.

“As disappointed as we are today, I can still take a lot of positives from certain aspects of it and what was clear was a willingness to overturn what’s been happening and get three points.

“We lacked a bit of quality in the final third.”

Thistle boss Alan Archibald noted that the result had taken his side four points clear of bottom side Ross County, who lost 3-2 at Kilmarnock.

“It wasn’t a classic was it?,” he said.

“But we are delighted with the point.

“Nobody outside Firhill thought we were going to get anything out of the next three games (Hearts and Hibs to follow) so we are delighted with the point and I was delighted with the clean sheet as well.

“I thought we merited it, especially with the second-half performance.”