Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes hopes his team continue their trend of picking up form after reaching the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-finals.
The Dons made it nine semi-finals in seven seasons under McInnes when they beat St Mirren 2-0 in a professional display in Paisley on Saturday night.
Aberdeen started well and Lewis Ferguson gave them the lead with a brilliant seventh-minute finish. And the Dons were rarely troubled before Sam Cosgrove killed off the tie with a stoppage-time penalty.
McInnes – who fears defender Scott McKenna has torn a hamstring – said: “Hopefully we can go into the semi-final in good form because the inconsistency has been driving me mad. Hopefully the performances of the players can be good individually gong into it.
“Having the focus of the semi-final normally allows our league form to improve. Whenever we have had a Scottish Cup semi-final, our league form has normally improved.”
McInnes was delighted with his side’s commitment and defending as they frustrated their hosts.
“We know the importance of the cups,” said the Dons boss, whose team travel to Kilmarnock on Wednesday.
“I knew from day one in the job here how important cup football was to the club and the supporters.
“We have been in umpteen semi-finals and finals and shown we are a very good cup team.
“We showed a lot of spirit. We weren’t at our best but with the conditions as they were, we showed enough good moments and the spirit we showed at Rugby Park to get the job done.
“Sometimes you can win games through brilliance – Fergie supplied a bit of that – and sometimes you do it through sheer tenacity and will.
“I thought my team were very good. To get a clean sheet against a team I have a high regard for and win 2-0 was a brilliant result.”
St Mirren now turn their attention to Premiership survival with a home against St Johnstone to come on Wednesday.
Manager Jim Goodwin said: “It’s hard to take positives right now because I genuinely felt we had a great opportunity, coming up against a team that’s a little bit fragile at the moment, not in great form.
“I felt we were in decent form going into it, I was confident we could progress again. But the fact of the matter is the goals are terrible.”
