Derek McInnes rues ‘missed opportunity’ as Aberdeen are held

Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes was left to rue a “missed opportunity” as his side were held to a 0-0 draw by Dundee United while teams around them slipped up.

The Dons had the better of the first half but could not find a killer touch and failed to improve after the break as United shaded the second half, with Lawrence Shankland coming closest to scoring.

The draw moved Aberdeen a point further ahead of fourth-placed Hibernian, and one closer to second-placed Celtic, both of whom lost on Saturday, but McInnes was far from happy.

He said: “Our focus is on ourselves. I want to make sure we control what we can and today feels like a missed opportunity.

“It’s a point gained on other teams, but it’s the type of game where we feel we should be picking up three points.

“If you’d spoken to me at half time I’d have been really pleased. Although we hadn’t scored, the attacking threat of the team was clear to see and our wide men were really prominent and we got plenty of crosses in.

“I thought we were very good and asked for more of the same, but I’m extremely disappointed we haven’t followed that through. We were guilty of poor decision-making.

“I thought Dundee United’s front two throughout the game were good and I thought United were better in the second half.”

United manager Micky Mellon felt his side had the better chances.

He said: “I always try to be fair and I thought it was a tough, hard-fought game from two honest teams. We certainly played our part in it.

“I’ve a lot of respect for Aberdeen and Derek McInnes. We knew we’d have to hit the level of performance that we did today in order to get something out of it.

“We did have probably the better chances, but it was a hard-fought game with two sets of players going for a victory.”