STEVEN MacLEAN, the St Johnstone striker, has accused Aberdeen’s players of lacking respect, being bad winners and over celebrating after Thursday night’s Betfred League Cup quarter-final.
A last minute goal from Adam Rooney saw Aberdeen through at Pittodrie after a close match in which the visitors hit the crossbar minutes before the game’s only goal.
MacLean was far from impressed with the scenes that greeted him when he and his team-mates made their way up the tunnel following a warm down and debrief on the pitch. There wasn’t a melee or even a stramash; however, a few things were said and for a second there was a chance the arguments would become serious.
“Listen, there are ways to win and ways to lose and it is just a bit of respect,” said MacLean. “They were shouting and bawling and I don’t mind that but not when a dressing room door is open. I closed the door and they weren’t happy with that.
“We won 5-1 up here last season did you see us doing that? We beat them 3-0 at our bit. There are ways to win and lose. We won a Scottish Cup final and never rubbed Dundee United’s noses in it.
“You know we will probably see some of the Aberdeen boys when we have our Christmas party. “It is a laugh. “I have played up here and there are no dramas. “There are ways to do it and ways not to do it.”
The joy would have been confined to the away dressing room had David Wotherspoon’s late free-kick not been touched onto the inside of the crossbar by Aberdeen goalkeeper Joe Lewis.
“It is football,” conceded MacLean. “There are thin dividing lines and if the ball had landed on the other side then I would have been there to tap it in. It is unfortunate but it happens and we move on and wish Aberdeen all the best. “We just need to concentrate on the league now and then the Scottish Cup when that comes along.”
“Any game you lose late on is a sore one but we will be fine. We have strong characters in our dressing room and we have a lot of strong personalities and boys in there. I have no qualms we will bounce back. “There is quick turnaround on Sunday and if we can beat Hamilton then it will be a good start for us.”
“We have a chance, depending on Saturday’s results, to go second or consolidate third. We need to push on to see where we finish in the league. We will bounce back and hopefully we will have a good season.
“We have to be realistic. The club has overachieved and has so over the last three or four years. “We know we have a good squad. We know we can bat at a good level. “We are confident but we also have to be realistic but we will try to push on.”
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