Aberdeen must "play smarter" - Derek McInnes

Aberdeen must "play smarter", says boss Derek McInnes

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes says his side need to "play smarter" after missing a chance to move second in the Premiership table in drawing with Hamilton Academical.

The Dons led through Kenny McLean's fourth-minute opener, but Dougie Imrie equalised for the hosts.

"We normally shut up shop and see the game out when we get in front," McInnes told BBC Scotland.

"Today I just felt as though we brought unnecessary pressure on ourselves."

An entertaining game yielded chances aplenty for both sides, but Aberdeen's defence in particular appeared tentative and slack at times at New Douglas Park.

"I don't think we were convincing enough throughout the 90 minutes that we were going to keep a clean sheet," admitted McInnes.

"You'd have to say Hamilton were worthy of their point, but so were we.

"It's just disappointing that having gone in front we didn't make more of the opportunities we had in the second half and we probably invited too much pressure on us by playing in the wrong areas and giving Hamilton every encouragement."

McInnes felt Imrie, who converted after Danny Ward saved Gramoz Kurtaj's strike, was "borderline offside", with further controversy involving Kurtaj emerging when defender Shay Logan was adjudged to have handled his shot a fraction outside the box.

Dougie Imrie gesticulates for a penalty but referee Willie Collum awards a free-kick

"I didn't think it was a penalty and, at the time, I didn't think it was a free-kick," said McInnes of the incident.

Hamilton counterpart Martin Canning believed his side should have taken all three points to end a run of five winless matches.

"I think, over the balance of the game, we should probably have won," he said. "I thought we were the better team in the first half and the second half.

"But being down 1-0 and coming back again, I'm really pleased. We'll take the point and move on, but I think on another day we could have taken all three.

"We'd a lot of opportunities, a lot of strikes at goal and maybe just weren't quite clinical enough.

"But the performances have been good; performance-wise, I'm really pleased, but we need to start wining games."