Here was the tonic Aberdeen would have been looking for after being knocked out of the Europa League by Apollon Limassol last week. Victory over Hamilton Academical, who were rigorous and made the hosts work for the points, was exactly what Derek McInnes wanted on the opening weekend of a new league season that promises to define the club off the field, too. In the past three years Aberdeen have finished runners-up in the Ladbrokes Premiership, and once again McInnes’s side set out to prove that they are the second force in Scottish football behind Celtic, while the decision over whether a new training ground and stadium are to be built on the outskirts will be made by the city council in October.

Source: The Times August 06, 2017 23:37 UTC