Assistant manager Docherty says Aberdeen are ‘lucky’ to have McInnes as boss

Assistant boss Tony Docherty believes nine-man Aberdeen showed the spirit of manager Derek McInnes as they fought back to earn a 1-1 draw against Hibernian.

Having fallen behind to a Ryan Porteous strike shortly after the interval the Dons’ task was made all the more difficult as Curtis Main was sent off moments later.

They looked dead and buried, but Sam Cosgrove popped up to head home the equaliser after 86 minutes, before Lewis Ferguson also earned an early bath.

Docherty said: “Sometimes there’s an outcome from the game you don’t expect. At the start of the game I wouldn’t have accepted a 1-1 draw, but the way the game went, sometimes that galvanises not just the players but also the support.

“I think it’s important. The players’ performance in that last 15 minutes epitomises the manager and we’re lucky at Aberdeen that we have the manager in Derek McInnes.

“A lot of people need to realise the solid, sterling work that’s being done.

“Sometimes a situation you’re in like that brings the best out of people and I do think it made them stand up, show their personality and show their mentality which is a reflection of the manager.”

Hibs boss Paul Heckingbottom was in less ebullient mood, saying there could have been no complaints had his side taken a strong result away with them.

He said: “I should be sat in here talking about how everyone was asking about this being a difficult place to come and our record up here over the last several years, and how we’d put it all to bed.

“I have an obvious frustration, disappointment that we’ve not got the three points that our performance deserved. It’s hard for me to sit here and pick out the positives at this moment, so I’ll have to do that another day.

“We didn’t just create chances, we could have gone back down the road having won three or four nil and no-one could say any different.

“We were strong and stood up to what Aberdeen threw at us, but we’ve only come away with a point.”