Aberdeen midfielder Jamie McGrath has revealed captain Graeme Shinnie’s hard-hitting message delivered in the dressing room minutes after beating Kilmarnock in the Scottish Cup.
Skipper Shinnie is suspended for the semi-final trip to Hampden having picked up a yellow card late on in the 3-1 last-eight win over Kilmarnock.
On a dramatic day, Neil Warnock stepped down as interim boss immediately after that quarter-final victory to plunge the club further into turmoil.
First-team coach Peter Leven will be in the dugout against Dundee away on Wednesday as interim boss as the Dons bid to end a damaging crash in league form.
Warnock failed to win any of his six Premiership games in charge, taking just two points from 18 before exiting Pittodrie.
Aberdeen are 10 Premiership games without victory and have slumped to third bottom in the table.
The threat of being dragged into a relegation dog fight is very real for the Reds.
Aberdeen are just four points ahead of the relegation play-off spot, currently occupied by Ross County.
Shinnie was “devastated” following the defeat of Kilmarnock after receiving a booking that ruled him out for the Hampden semi.
But he still issued a rousing message to the managerless Reds in the Pittodrie dressing room.
McGrath, 27, said: “Shinnie came in and said ‘we can’t let this be a one off’, we have to keep working and believing.
“It is a confidence thing as well and one win can turn it around.
“Dundee will be a tough game, but if we do what we did against Kilmarnock, we’ll give ourselves a really good chance.”
What has gone wrong in Premiership for Aberdeen? McGrath’s take…
McGrath played a key role in the quarter-final defeat of Kilmarnock.
The Republic of Ireland international fired Aberdeen ahead with the opening goal.
He then set up Shinnie with a sublime backheel for the Dons’ second.
A shot from McGrath was deflected into the goal to make it 3-1.
Aberdeen have already reached the League Cup final this season where they lost 1-0 to Rangers at Hampden.
Now they will return to the national stadium and are just one win away from another final.
And yet, Aberdeen have suffered a disastrous Premiership campaign with just six victories in 28 fixtures.
What has gone wrong in the league?
McGrath said: “I don’t think it is for the want of trying – that has always been there. The work-rate has never been questioned.
“Against Kilmarnock maybe we got a rub of fortune with some deflections going in, whereas the weeks before they weren’t.
“We defended brilliantly as well, as the boys at the back won everything.
“We won every ball and second ball and played well when the ball was on the floor.
“As a team we can be really happy with how we did – but we can’t let it be a one off.
“We have to bring that against Dundee on Wednesday.
“It’s been quite a while since we had that winning feeling in the dressing room.
“Hopefully we can build on it and go into the Dundee game full of confidence.”
Urgency for new manager increases
Warnock was appointed interim manager until the end of the season following the sacking of Barry Robson.
Having Warnock at the helm was supposed to give the Pittodrie hierarchy breathing space to identify, interview and appoint a new manager for next season and beyond.
The exit of Warnock after just 33 days and eight games has ramped up the urgency to appoint a new boss.
A shortlist of managerial candidates has been compiled and the club plan to conduct interviews this week.
Some candidates are currently contracted to other clubs so the Dons must first seek permission to talk with them.
Aberdeen aim to appoint a permanent manager during the upcoming international break, which runs from March 18 to 26.
First-team coach Leven will oversee the team in interim charge.
McGrath said: “We haven’t got the points we wanted so we have to keep working hard.
“If we work as hard as we did against Kilmarnock, we give ourselves a chance against anyone in the league.
“We have to go for three points against Dundee who are in form at the minute.
“It will be a similar game to the one against Kilmarnock where we have to win our battles all over the pitch.
“If we do that we will give ourselves a really good chance.”
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