ABERDEEN MANAGER DEREK McInnes was understandably delighted with his side’s performance after they kicked off their Europa League qualifying campaign with a 6-0 win over Faroese side NSI Runavik last night.
Lewis Ferguson’s header and a tap-in from from Curtis Main had the home side on easy street by half-time, but it was substitute Ryan Hedges who became the star of the show, netting a second-half hat-trick punctuated by a screamer from Irish winger Jonny Hayes.
What a hit from Jonny Hayes! 😱@AberdeenFC running riot now 🔴 pic.twitter.com/aHTbPQW3km
— Premier Sports 📺 (@PremierSportsTV) August 27, 2020
The Dons tackle Hibernian on Sunday but face a Scottish Football Association disciplinary hearing on Friday which could see the ‘Aberdeen Eight’ — Hayes, Scott McKenna, Sam Cosgrove, Craig Bryson, Bruce Anderson, Dylan McGeouch, Matty Kennedy and Michael Devlin — punished by the governing body for their coronavirus guideline breach.
Aberdeen had three games postponed after the eight players were instructed to self-isolate after a night out at a bar after which two tested positive for Covid-19.
“My players have been dragged through the mud, kicked from pillar to post,” added McInnes, who claims they’ve been punished enough. “They have been fined by the club, they have not been in a good place for a couple of weeks.
“It is great to see them out there enjoying the game and doing what they should be doing. There is no doubt that my players have been punished enough in my eyes.
“A lot of Scotland, right across the workplace, let their guard down. My players were guilty of naivety rather than them thinking they were above any rules or laws.
“The whole of Scottish football took a check when they saw what my players were getting pulled up for. I think that every club in Scotland has not been squeaky clean.
I think my players have taken a hit, they have been punished, they have been fined to a high level of money as well.
“We have had to face a lot of things in the last couple of weeks with injuries and suspensions, the whole nonsense that has been going and the embarrassment of that, if there is any more punishment to come then we will have to deal with.”
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