Caley Thistle's Ross Draper holds no grudges with Graeme Shinnie after tackle on Brad Mckay
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ROSS Draper insists there is no ill will towards former Caley Thistle team-mate Graeme Shinnie after his reckless challenge on Brad Mckay.
Shinnie’s late second-half challenge on Mckay left the Caley Jags defender requiring a stretcher, with Draper and Josh Meekings both seen visibly remonstrating with Inverness’ 2015 Scottish Cup-winning captain.
They played alongside each other for three seasons and although Aberdeen man Shinnie was booed leaving the pitch, Draper does not believe there was any malice in the challenge.
He did, however, raise eyebrows at some of referee Kevin Clancy’s decisions in the 3-1 defeat, with the aforementioned challenge on Mckay not meriting a free-kick.
“It was just a coming together. I think Iain (Vigurs) sold him a short ball and it’s one where both players are committed,” he said. “It’s a harsh one and I expected a foul. Maybe it’s one where it was such a short pass that both players had no option but to lunge in.
“He’s a good lad Shinbone (Shinnie); he gets the best out of me because he plays at such high energy. We’re all good, we shook hands at the end.
“I like the battle of playing against him when he’s in the middle of the park. It’s a healthy rivalry. We shook hands at the end, spoke after the game and we’re good friends off the pitch.”
The hope is that Mckay’s injury is not too serious, with the defender tweeting on Sunday that it was simply “bad bone bruising”.
Kevin McNaughton remains out long-term and David Raven has concussion, leaving Lewis Horner as the only senior replacement should Mckay be ruled out for any length of time.
“We’re missing a few. Polly is six to eight weeks, Kev is long-term and Dave has concussion, so I don’t know how long he’s going to be out,” added Draper. “We need to keep everyone fit and ready for selection, to give us the best possible chance of getting a result and getting back to winning ways.”
The performance of Clancy was one that drew attention from both managers. Foran, as he has stated previously, wants consistency from referees and does not feel his side are getting that.
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes was unhappy with the decision to book James Maddison for diving, although his side benefitted from a couple of controversial calls.
Inverness felt Aaron Doran’s challenge on Maddison, for Kenny McLean’s free-kick goal, was soft, while they also appealed for a foul on Larnell Cole in the build-up to Jonny Hayes winning the Dons a penalty.
It appears Caley Thistle are accepting they will not get the rub of the green, although that should not be the case.
“It’s standard, you get that,” said Draper. “It’s frustrating and I try not to get involved. You’ve got a hard enough job to try to get back in the game and it’s hard not to let it affect you.
“There were a couple of decisions that didn’t go our way but maybe they even themselves out over the course of the season.
“I get caught up in the game sometimes and maybe when you look at the game as a neutral, some of the decisions aren’t as bad as when you’re out there playing. We lost a couple of decisions but it wasn’t about that, we weren’t good enough to take the points.”
Aside from Lonsana Doumbouya’s opening goal, which came from a Draper ball into the box, the home side failed to test Dons goalkeeper Joe Lewis.
Former Norwich and Peterborough man Lewis looked comfortable claiming regular balls into the box. The closest Inverness came to adding to their earlier goal was through efforts from Carl Tremarco and Draper either side of half-time, both of which rolled wide of Lewis’ far post.
Draper shared the view that the Caley Jags should have been better in the final third, adding that a quality final ball was missing.
“We started the game fairly confidently and got the goal,” he said. “It was disappointing to let them back in the game with two set piece goals and I don’t think we played as well as we know we can. That’s the frustrating part.
“Aberdeen are full of quality players and you’ve got to be bang at it. We were maybe at 75 per cent and we need to be better than that to get a result.
“We’ve played OK in two-thirds of the pitch but not worked their keeper enough. The goal came from a ball in the box and we maybe didn’t learn from that.
“Maybe the final ball lacked a bit of quality that you need against a good side.”
