Derek McInnes admits he is not going to 'overly worry' about Celtic as he labelled their strength and depth as 'ridiculous'
The Kilmarnock boss watched his side go down 2-0 to the Scottish champions in a dress rehearsal ahead of this evening's Hampden meeting with Ange Postecoglou's side. The Scottish champions are the holders of the Viaplay Cup and will be determined to move one step closer to retaining their crown.
But the Rugby Park outfit, who will be underdogs at the national stadium, are aiming to cause a major upset for their travelling support as McInnes outlined his ambitions to be a regular at this stage of cup competitions as he bids to make the newly promoted Premiership side a 'good cup team'. Ahead of the Hampden semi-final, he said: “If we had had a right sore one last Saturday, it would have been a hard sell for me this week. So we set up in a way and were organised enough to stay in the game.
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“I have been at Celtic Park as player and manager when your goal is getting peppered and battered and your goalie is pulling off worldies, and it wasn’t that. It was their first shot on target when they scored.
“Celtic were the better team, there is no denying that. We’ve got to try and find a way for that not to be the case. I don’t think they will be overly worrying about us. I listen to their manager and he is always talking about their level of performance.
“Likewise, I am not going to overly worry about Celtic because I know what they are. They have options, strength in depth. Their bench last Saturday was ridiculous. i’m just looking to give our players the best chance to overcome that.”
He continued: “I’ve always felt that cup competitions give you the best opportunities of success and, if you are a Premiership team as we are, why not us? Why should it be up to someone else to perform in semi-finals and finals?
“The pressure will be on us to do the same in the Scottish Cup as it is in the League Cup. Over the course of time, as we start to put the bricks in place, we want to be a very strong cup team as well as an established Premiership team again.
“It is important now that we have got to this stage. We did say the very first game at Fraserburgh in the group stages to try and see the bigger picture and that Hampden was not as far away as you think. To picture that.
“And that is where we are now. Hopefully we have that day in the final as well as the semi-final. I don’t see why we shouldn’t embrace it. I don’t think we are putting ourselves under any pressure to perform in wanting to be a good cup team. It is important that you are a good cup team."
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