A sixth cup semi-final appearance in five years beckons for Aberdeen next month but manager Derek McInnes has urged his side to go on and win the Scottish Cup.
The Dons beat Kilmarnock on penalties to reach the semi-finals where Motherwell stand between McInnes’ men and a place in the final against either Celtic or Rangers.
Aberdeen were runners-up in all three competitions last season and are one game away from another final but reaching it is not enough for McInnes. He has watched the fans enjoy their big day out now he wants to see them celebrating silverware.
He said: “It’s our sixth semi-final in five years but the intention is not to be happy with reaching another semi. We want to go on and win it.
“Motherwell, like Kilmarnock, have the experience of reaching a cup final this season and will fancy their chances like Kilmarnock did but we’ll face that challenge when it comes.”
Aberdeen had to dig deep to beat a Killie side backed by a fervent support at Rugby Park and McInnes believes the penalty win can galvanise his side’s campaign. The Dons have hit the buffers in the league recently following two defeats and a draw to slip to third place in the Premiership and McInnes hopes Tuesday’s important cup win can be a launching pad for a renewed push for second spot behind champions-elect Celtic in the final nine league games of the campaign.
He said: “There are defining moments when you have cup games and it was a tough game.
“The reaction to losing a goal was excellent and we deserved to win. Sometimes a club needs a big result and beating Kilmarnock felt like one. We shouldn’t doubt our team. This is our first year and we are working towards something with this team.
“There are too many quick to spread negative talk about us. Of course the cup is important but we are sitting third in the league and we feel there is much more to come from us.
“We have three boys in the international set-up with Scotland and others very close to it. There are others going away with other countries and boys in the under-21s, too, so there is a lot of good things happening at this club.”
Aberdeen goalkeeper Freddie Woodman, who saved three penalties against Kilmarnock, was called up to the England under-21 squad yesterday for their upcoming matches friendly against Romania and Euro 2019 qualifier against Ukraine.