McInnes praises McGeouch after good Aberdeen debut

Derek McInnes has singled out Dylan McGeouch for praise after the new Aberdeen midfielder made his competitive debut.

After featuring in a friendly match against Al Wehdat over in Dubai, the recently departed Sunderland man was started against Dumbarton in the Scottish Cup.

He featured for over an hour as the Dons laboured to a 1-0 win over the Sons. McInnes was left pleased nonetheless with how the battler coped with his debut.

McInnes told the club’s website: “I thought he was very good. I thought he showed what he is going to give us. He is a metronome in there. He nudges the ball up the pitch, he gets you moving. If he has movement ahead of him then he has the quality to find those little passes that can make the difference.

“For somebody who has not had a lot of 90 minutes this season I thought his performance was very good. It is a step in the right direction for him. He was only meant to play an hour, but we kept him on for a bit longer. He is a boy that you can see has lovely soft feet, he handles the ball brilliantly and he gave us a sign of what he is all about.

“He can be pleased with his home debut and pleased that we have managed to get ourselves into the next round.”

Got over the line

This on paper looked like it was a comfortable game for the Dons. Dumbarton’s squad is wafer-thin at the moment and McInnes’ men should have been able to put this one out of sight.

It was anything but a doddle though. They couldn’t break down Jim Duffy’s men and it was only a Sam Cosgrove penalty which separated them.

McGeouch’s one positive on the playing side of things. It’s more minutes in his legs ahead of a crucial Premiership clash with Motherwell. Failure to win that could leave them as many as four points off third.

A win though could take them into that position. McGeouch is likely to feature again as the Dons look to reclaim third this week.