Dons boss uses experience to focus players after treacherous journey

Craig Brown drew on all his years as a manager to help his side through a difficult match build up.SNS Group

Aberdeen manager Craig Brown used his experience in the game to help put a tortuous journey behind his players as the Dons drew 1-1 with Dundee United at Tannadice.

The Pittodrie side were caught up in a road closure on the A90, meaning kick off was forced to be delayed by 15 minutes with Aberdeen arriving just 40 minutes before the match was scheduled to start.

Brown reminded his players of a 1990 World Cup Cup qualifying clash where Scotland had only 25 minutes to prepare for a game against France.

The Dons boss was Scotland assistant manager in 1989 when Andy Roxburgh's men required a police escort to reach Hampden through heavy traffic before recording a memorable 2-0 win.

He said: "I was saying to our players 'don't give me any excuses' because it was the best Scottish home performance.

"Today's game was a good-quality game. It was probably a good point for us to maintain our unbeaten run and a good point for Dundee United to halt the unfortunate run they've been having."

Aberdeen captain Russell Anderson admitted that although the journey wasn't ideal it didn't affect their performance as much as some might think.

He said: "We were a bit lethargic in our play, but I wouldn't want to blame it on the journey. Our tempo wasn't high enough to be able to get through them. Second half we were a bit more direct and it seemed to work."

McGinn scored for the fifth successive game and capped a week in which he spoiled Cristiano Ronaldo's 100th appearance for Portugal when Northern Ireland claimed a 1-1 draw in Porto.

Brown added: "Niall is very good for us. He gets in behind teams, he's got pace and he's an unselfish player. "Not only does he score, but he's running along the by-line creating.

"He's hard-working and modest and just gets on with it. I can't praise him highly enough."

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