Aberdeen skipper Graeme Shinnie shows his true colours with searingly honest verdict about Celtic

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Graeme Shinnie has vowed their sorry six-goal Hampden howler won’t derail Jimmy Thelin’s Aberdeen.

The Dons had gone 16 games unbeaten under their Swedish manager before being brought crashing back down to earth with an almighty bang by Celtic in Saturday’s Premier Sports Cup semi-final. Thelin described it as a bump in the road and skipper Shinnie and his team-mates are determined to show that’s all it is and get their season back on track.

He said: “It was a massive bump in the road but we have to regroup and go again next week. We have had a good start to the season but this is one which will bring us right back down to earth. This is why we say we have to take it one game at a time. It’s important we reflect on it, draw a line under it and move on to next Saturday.”

Shinnie knows the pain from Saturday’s thumping will hurt for some time but urged Dons to use it to their benefit. He added: “This will hurt for a few days, but once you get over it, it’s about moving on and we’re in a strong position in the league. We have to focus on that now and learn from this. We’re annoyed at how we played but it’s done now and we have to look forward. We have to be more resilient, roll our sleeves up and fight more. It’s a learning curve for everyone. We played at Celtic Park and got a draw but every game is different. If you allow Celtic to be what they can be then Saturday is what happens. We have to react to it.”

Shinnie acknowledged that Aberdeen never got near the levels they have hit this season and lost poor, poor goals. He said: “We just didn’t turn up at all. It wasn’t good enough, Celtic were very good on the day and we weren’t. When you give them that they’ll punish you. I felt we didn’t get near them, we didn’t have enough resilience and the goals were really poor. We let them dictate the play and do what they wanted at times.

“If you let them do that they’ll punish you – and they did. Credit to them, they moved the ball very well and had rotations like they normally do. They played really well and when they do that and we don’t play to our full capacity that’s what happens.”

When Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic are in full flow they are almost unstoppable but Shinnie knows that his team never gave
themselves a chance. The Dons fought back to get a draw in the league against Celtic a fortnight ago but the champions had clearly learned their lessons from that ahead of Saturday. Shinnie added: “What can you do? You can roll your sleeves up and be more resilient.

“The manner of the goals at key moments in the game, conceding from a set-piece to start with was frustrating. If they cut you open and score with a bit of magic then fair enough. But from a set-piece? We need to be better. Celtic are always going to be up for it so it’s up to us to be that as well.

“It’s a semi-final at Hampden, so it’s a big game no matter what – both of us want to get to a final. I just felt after the set-piece went in they gained a lot of confidence and we went the opposite way. They strolled it after that. That’s disappointing because we wanted to be more resilient. We didn’t make the mark on the game we wanted to. I wouldn’t use tiredness as an excuse, we just weren’t good enough on the day.”

It was a real blow to the 13,000-plus strong Red Army who had made the long trip down to Hampden. But they stood by their team throughout and even stayed after the final whistle to applaud their players.

Shinnie said: “We are extremely grateful to the fans for the way they reacted – that’s massive for us. As a team and as a squad we are grateful for it and it’s up to us now to turn it around. We need to get back on the winning trail.”

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