ST JOHNSTONE defender Joe Shaughnessy insists Derek McInnes would be a success at Rangers after watching how he transformed Aberdeen on and off the pitch.

Shaughnessy spent two-and-a-half seasons working under the man who the Ibrox club want as their successor to Pedro Caixinha.

The Irishman was part of a Dons squad that had reluctantly become used to finishing in the bottom six when McInnes and his assistant Tony Docherty arrived in March 2013.

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And Shaughnessy recalls how subtle changes on the training pitch to what and where the players were eating for lunch laid the foundations for three successive runners-up finishes in the top-flight.

Shaughnessy said: “The season before he came we were bottom six and you can see the success he’s had since then.

“He’s lifted it up to another level and made it a lot more professional.

“Derek was really good, when he came in first he changed a lot.

“It’s even the little changes, whether it be in the canteen, training or how you’re getting to training and all that.

“It was everything, he just brought a different level of professionalism to the club and he’s obviously continued that.

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“He’s very involved in every little thing, there were things to do with what we were eating up at Aberdeen and how it was being done.

“There would always been different options in the canteen but when he came in there was always a chicken and pasta option for players and the players were the only ones that could eat that.

“We also used to train in two different places in Aberdeen and some lads would be driving to training.

“He’s organise so the mini-bus was going and he used to take us to lunch every Thursday as a team to a restaurant so you kind of get that team spirit. You do notice it and it all builds up.”