Neil Warnock ready to lead Aberdeen cup run after meeting fans in Tesco

New Aberdeen boss Neil Warnock is looking forward to his first match at Pittodrie after meeting the club’s fans while doing his supermarket shopping.

The hugely experienced manager took on his 20th job when agreeing to take charge of Aberdeen until the end of the season, and experienced a baptism of fire as his side lost 2-1 to Rangers at Ibrox in midweek.

Warnock now faces his home debut with a Scottish Cup tie against Bonnyrigg Rose at Pittodrie on Saturday and he’s set his sights on winning the competition.

As he settles in the city and gets used to his new club and surrounding, he said he had been warmly welcomed.

“I went round Tesco last night and I’ve never seen so many Aberdeen fans,” Warnock said. “So they all welcomed me and it was lovely.

“I think they know I’m coming here just to do the best I can, really.

“Possibly people thought I wouldn’t come up here but it’s just a nice challenge.”

With a game under his belt and the benefit of a couple of days training, Warnock is getting to know his players and he said he has been impressed by what he has seen so far.

“They’re a good group of lads and the facilities are excellent,” he said.

“I’m glad they showed me (against Rangers) that effort isn’t going to be a problem. I’m not a data person like most people are but I do look at things like that.

“To be quite honest I was absolutely gobsmacked about a couple of players and how much ground they covered.

“They all did a real good shift and that’s the minimum requirement, really.

“They could quite easily have got a result and I didn’t see the handball until later.

“They tried hard and the adaption was really good.”

Aberdeen are heavy favourites to progress in the cup when they go up against League Two opposition in the shape of Bonnyrigg Rose but Warnock said he knew from his own experiences in the FA Cup in England that no tie could be taken lightly.

“I’ve been in their position and you’ve got nothing to lose,” he said. “It’s lovely for clubs like that.

“We always wanted to get a big club. When I was at Burton Albion we played Leicester City from the Premier League with Gary Lineker and all that.

“It was unbelievable, the talk around the place.

“So I’ve had a few good cup runs as an underdog, at non-league, and a few as the one that should win.

“It’ll be difficult. There’s no easy games when they have come this far. They’re well organised and have some good players and following.

“It’ll be a good cup tie and I think cup ties like that are very, very good.”