Shinnie urges Aberdeen to 'keep foot on gas'

Aberdeen must keep their "foot firmly on the gas", says captain Graeme Shinnie as he warned his team: "Nothing has been achieved."

The Dons have yet to taste defeat this season and extended their unbeaten run to 16 games by beating Rangers 2-1 at Pittodrie on Wednesday.

It leaves Jimmy Thelin’s side level on points with Scottish Premiership leaders and defending champions Celtic, who they play in Saturday's Scottish League Cup semi-final.

"You get praise for doing well but at this stage of the season nothing has been achieved," said Shinnie, 33.

"It is obviously where we want to be and we have had a great start but there is a long way to go and even if you look at the league table, I am not sure it is going to finish the way it is now.

"Teams will move about. The two Edinburgh teams are at the bottom - I would expect them to pick up so it will change as we go on.

"Once you get to the more business end of the season then you can start looking at that kind of stuff. We are fully focused on winning games and that is what we have been doing."

Thelin has maintained a level headed demeanour and a mantra of taking one game at a time since his summer arrival.

But does the experienced Shinnie have a part to play in ensuring some of the younger members of the squad do not get carried away amid a run of 15 wins and a draw?

"It is a hard one, it is letting them have that little bit of excitement because it is good and we are in a good place so it is about enjoying that but it is also about keeping our foot on the pedal because nothing has been achieved," the midfielder explained.

"It is about trying to continue what we are doing, trying to continue to get better. We are still reasonably early in the manager's era, so we are still learning as we go.

"It is enjoying it while we are at it because winning games is enjoyable but on top of that it is keeping right on top of it and keeping our foot firmly on the gas."

Shinnie won the Scottish Cup with Inverness Caledonian Thistle nine years ago and winning silverware with Aberdeen remains "a massive ambition".

"We know the challenge at hand," he said of facing Celtic. "We know Celtic will be confident as well so we are trying to focus on ourselves and do the things that have gone well for us.

"Anything can happen in a cup game. We will be focused and ready to go."