Derek McInnes takes swipe at SPFL over Kilmarnock Aberdeen trip as last season's reverse forgotten

A spiky Derek McInnes has taken a swipe at the SPFL for handing Kilmarnock an away fixture against Aberdeen off the back of their Conference League play-off first leg against Copenhagen in Denmark.

In the lead-up to Thursday's tie, Killie bosses had considered asking the Premiership's governing body to postpone Sunday's clash at Pittodrie to give them more time to recover from their European commitments. Despite performing well against a side that reached the last 16 of the Champions League last year, the Rugby Park club fell to a 2-0 defeat in the Danish capital, conceding twice in the final 15 minutes to leave them needing a huge turnaround in Ayrshire next Thursday if they want to reach the coveted league phase.

Aberdeen struggled trying to balance their schedule due to their participation in the group stages of the Conference League last season, and were given a 12.30pm kick-off on a Sunday away to Kilmarnock just days after a damaging 3-2 loss at home to PAOK where they had dramatically squandered a 2-0 lead.

Speaking to BBC Sport Scotland after the game, a sarcastic McInnes said: "It's really nice of the league to maybe even think about us still being in Europe by giving us Aberdeen away.

"It's quicker to get to Denmark than to Aberdeen, which is a four hour journey. Such is life. I said before the game that we have got to prioritise Europe. It's not to say we are going up there (to Pittodrie) to lose a game of football. We are going up there to try and be good enough to win the game.

"But while the game is still in the balance on Thursday night, we want to make it a special night at Rugby Park. I think if we can get the first goal then it could turn out that way."