DEREK McINNES has watched Rangers spend big this summer and sign up an entire new team. The Aberdeen boss is well aware he cannot come remotely close to matching the Ibrox side’s financial clout. McInnes believes the Dons can finish ahead of Rangers againScottish News and Sport But McInnes still believes the Dons can finish above them in the Premiership for the third consecutive season. The Pittodrie gaffer is adamant there are gems to be unearthed without breaking the bank if you have a decent scouting network. And he cites 21-year-old striker Sam Cosgrove — who was plucked from Carlisle reserves in January — as the perfect example. Cosgrove’s arrival raised a few eyebrows and McInnes admits even the League Two outfit were taken aback when he slapped in a bid for him. He has praised striker Sam CosgroveWillie Vass He said: “Sam has done very well for us. In every game he’s started we haven’t lost over 90 minutes. “He gives us an out with his physical size. We were quite English in our look on Thursday, as we had to be big enough to deal with what Burnley threw at us. “I’m confident Sam can score goals. We need another striker in to help him and Stevie May and have different options and ways of playing against different opponents. “My chief scout spotted him and Carlisle were probably as surprised as anyone when we made the call. “We were going to pre- contract him and do a cross-border thing at the end of last season. But we paid £20,000 up front with add-ons if he does well and we just viewed him as something different. “If you can’t always bring someone better to your club then it’s important to bring something different and he’s certainly that. “We have to be creative with our signings. When Hearts and Hibs came up it was said we’d be pushed aside, and the same with Rangers, but we just need to do our work the best we can and be competitive. “The league will be stronger again this year with Steven Gerrard coming in. Rangers will improve and he’s a very impressive guy with good signings. Hibs will be stronger again as will Hearts and it would be difficult to say Celtic won’t be stronger again. McInnes will come head to head with GerrardWillie Vass “The challenge is for us to make sure we’re in amongst it as it’s our job to win trophies. We’ve got a way of working that helps us. We’ve never had the ability to spend money so it’s how we work as a club and a squad and a staff. “We want to do those things better than anyone, whether it’s preparation or video analysis. To be there for my players — we’ve always had a very strong, motivated bunch of boys. “We have a close-knit group that has taken us a long way and we’ll lean on all those things to try and bridge the gap again.” Anthony O’Connor, Kari Arnason, Kenny McLean, Adam Rooney and Ryan Christie, who returned to his parent club Celtic, all moved on at the end of the last campaign. But the arrival of Chris Forrester, Lewis Ferguson, Tommie Hoban and Stephen Gleeson appeared to provide a much-needed freshness during two evenly-contested Europa League games with Burnley. McInnes said: “People always talk about what you haven’t got and what you need. “I get that, and we’ll try and bring in necessary support — but there’s enough here to be confident about. We’ve made some signings such as Gleeson, Ferguson, Forrester and Hoban. “But Mikey Devlin and Sam Cosgrove seem like new players despite being with us last year.” Aberdeen lost Kenny McLean to NorwichKenny Ramsay - The Sun Glasgow McInnes is expecting a blockbusting opening to the new season when Rangers come to town. However, he is also wary of the physical toll Thursday night’s Herculean effort will have taken on his players. To a man the Dons ran themselves to a standstill as they lost a titanic tussle after extra-time at Turf Moor. But McInnes has urged them to shake off any tiredness and put down an early marker. RELATED STORIES WIN OR BUST James Tavernier says Rangers MUST win at Aberdeen in order to avoid early dip Don to Swan Scott McKenna would be a big hit at Swansea City says Burnley star Jack Cork BEER WE GO Nacho Novo to ‘pay for Gers fans’ drinks’ at NN10 boozer ahead of Aberdeen clash TOP BOSS Joe Lewis couldn’t care less about Gerrard as he’s just glad McInnes isn’t at Gers THANK YOU, COME AGAIN Brendan Rodgers leaves door open for Patrick Roberts return ONE OF OZ Tom Rogic promises to mentor Daniel Arzani as he praises winger’s talents He added: “It’s got the makings of a strong game. Rangers will be in a positive mood and it’s been a strong start in terms of results from them so it will be two confident teams. “We’ll both be setting out to try and win all three points because it’s important to get that first win as quickly as possible. “Some of the fixtures it would be more difficult to get up for on Sunday, but we’ve been dealt the hand of an early kick-off against Rangers and what a fantastic game that will be. “It’s a good game to motivate us and drag us out of any physical or mental lethargy and get going again. We asked a lot of them over the two games against Burnley. “You have to do the yards and apply pressure and break quickly and put in a lot of high speed work. DAVIE PROVAN Rangers have backed Steven Gerrard.. now it’s time for him to deliver “The onus was on the likes of Mackay-Steven, Shinnie, McGinn and Ferguson to get back in and support over the two legs. It can take its toll. “But that is the business we’re in and we’ll have to dust ourselves down and be ready again because we want to get off to a good start in the domestic campaign.” Keep up to date with ALL the latest news, transfers and goals from Scottish football plus fixtures, results and live match commentary
Source: Scottish Sun, News
Source: Scottish Sun, News
