DEREK McINNES believes his Aberdeen team are one of the biggest underdogs in Scottish Cup final history.
The Pittodrie manager admitted that few people outside his own club will give his players a chance of winning against a Celtic team in search of the treble and an unbeaten domestic season, at Hampden on Saturday.
McInnes said he told his players last summer he had a feeling this campaign would be special and it will end with them second in the Premiership having made two finals, both against Scotland’s best team.
“Celtic will expect to beat us because they have done every time they've played us this year," McInnes said. "We've had moments in a lot of the games where we’ve done well but it's never been enough to beat them.
“They've assembled a squad which has cost the best part of £40 million – not all under [manager] Brendan [Rodgers] obviously. We’ve spent £200,000 putting our squad together.
“We’ll still get criticised if we lose it, though. That's part and parcel, that's where Aberdeen have come to in recent years. Everyone wants to see a game, people want to see competition. They want a story, not just for Celtic to turn up. But the same people will expect Celtic to win. They have a huge advantage over us. It's like a scratch golfer playing against an 18-handicapper. The 18-handicapper can win, but the scratch golfer has to play poorly. So it’s a huge ask for us. I think it would be a significant result in the history of our club and, certainly, in Scottish football if we can beat this Celtic team.’
Despite recognising that the odds are stacked his against his side, McInnes has been delighted with how Aberdeen have performed.
He said: “Sometimes you just get a gut feeling with a group of boys. There are certain hurdles as you go along but I have always felt this could be a special season with this group of boys. Hopefully that plays out at Hampden.”
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