Derek McInnes hopes public backing can lift Aberdeen players

Derek McInnes hopes his public backing from the Aberdeen board can lift a weight off his players as they try to turn round their form.

Chairman Dave Cormack stated on Monday that the board were fully behind McInnes and called on others to follow suit.

Talks between the pair had followed a 2-0 defeat by Hibernian, which saw Aberdeen fall five points behind their opponents in fourth place in the Scottish Premiership.

The Dons have not scored for four matches and only won once in eight games ahead of Saturday’s visit of St Mirren.

That form has prompted disquiet among a section of supporters and McInnes felt speculation over his future did not help his players at Easter Road.

“I think anybody looks for support from the people you work for and it’s no different,” he said.

“I am here to support the whole football department and the players and get them through a tough time.

“It’s not the first time we have had a difficult run of results but we have always found a way to come through it. I think people at this club remember that.

“I have had loads of support externally from supporters, messages and emails and all the rest of it, and I am absolutely delighted with all that because I know there’s a lot of people willing us to do well and I know what this club means.

“I know what it means to myself and we just want to try and knuckle down and get on with the job in hand.

“Hopefully with the board coming out and saying what they have said, we can just concentrate on the game. Because going into the game last week there was far too much pressure on my players.”

McInnes saw three attackers leave the club on deadline day and Ryan Hedges ruled out for several months with a pectoral injury days later.

He might only have one of his loan signings, Callum Hendry, available on Saturday with Fraser Hornby struggling with illness and Florian Kamberi still awaiting a work permit.

“We have had a few blows with injuries and through January, scrambling about the last day of the window is not how I want to do business,” McInnes said.

“We could have done a lot of work better earlier in the window so there was a lot I wasn’t happy about.

“We are trying to get that forward line reinvented. Kamberi’s work permit issues are still to be resolved, Fraser Hornby has come down with a bug this week and hasn’t trained for the last few days.

“Ryan Hedges is having his operation on Friday and Greg Leigh is probably out for the season with a hamstring injury.

“So we are taking a few blows. But I would rather concentrate on the players who are available and that’s what the focus is, making these boys as good as they can be.”

Hornby will be assessed on Friday while there is no time frame for Kamberi to join in.

“We are confident we are going to get his work permit,” McInnes said. “We wouldn’t have made that signing if we didn’t think that would be overcome, but the whole issue is timing.

“You depend on so many people before the boy can get to the stage where he can actually put his boots on and come out and train with us.

“He’s in the country, he flew in on Wednesday but being able to get him training with the boys is beyond us at the minute. We are just waiting on the stamp of approval.”