ABERDEEN boss Derek McInnes reckons his team can’t afford to focus on one or two individual Morton stars this weekend — because the entire team’s work ethic is their main asset.

Ex-Ton captain McInnes had his old side watched again at the weekend against Queen of the South ahead of the Betfred League Cup semi-final at Hampden. 

The Pittodrie manager admits he has been impressed by their team work and organisation, but would expect nothing less from a team under the tutelage of Jim Duffy.

Speaking exclusively to the Tele, McInnes said: “We’ve managed to look at the Morton team a lot more closely over the last 48 hours, certainly as immediate staff. 

“I knew all of their players anyway to a certain extent, but obviously we’ve watched them a lot closer and know that they’ve got good organisation and are bright at set-plays.

"Jim is a very experienced manager, and rather than speak about key players I think their strength comes from their organisation and team work — that’s their real strength.

“They’ve got players who can score goals, be a threat and be match winners, but there’s enough experience there to help make that happen as well as the good legs in the younger ones, so there’s a good mixture. 

“But you’d expect that from a team that Jim has put together. There’s a team there that’s capable of competing against any opposition.”

The Dons gaffer admits he expects a tough game on Saturday but is confident that his side — who may be without key defender Ash Taylor after he limped off against Ross County last weekend — can make it past Ton and into the Betfred Cup final if they play to the best of their ability on the day.

He said: “We’re well aware of what Morton are capable of and part of our preparation is looking at the opposition — but another part is really concentrating on ourselves to try and bring a performance that we’re capable of. 

“Hopefully that’ll make it difficult for Morton at the same time.

“We’re waiting to see, but the likelihood is that Ash [Taylor] will miss Saturday. We’ll wait to see how that settles over the next few days but it’s not as bad as we first feared. 

“We’ll see how things settle for him but I would say he’ll miss it.

“Ryan [Jack] has been back training so as long as there’s no setbacks, which we don’t anticipate, it’ll be great to have him back because he’s a very important player for us.

"As good as the team has been, it’s always great to have the captain and such an influential player like Ryan back.”