ABERDEEN won their first trophy in 19 years when they lifted the League Cup at Celtic Park last season.

But after watching his Dons side capitulate at the same venue as Ronny Deila's Bhoys demolished them 4-0 to go six points clear in the title race, boss Derek McInnes accepts it is going to take a collapse by the Hoops for his side to add more silverware this term.

He brought his players south on the back of a 12-game unbeaten run in the league, and with aspirations of drawing level with the reigning champions.

But after an impressive start, the Dons were sent home to think again.

McInnes still retains faith in his young side, who are nine points better off than they were at this stage last season, but he admitted: "Celtic showed exactly why they're top of the league, because they've got players who can exploit those moments of lack of concentration.

"There is a lot to like about my team. There is an acceptance that maybe we are not quite ready to go and take them on.

"But there is the feeling we can improve, and that's the target for any team."

As they are out of both cup competitions, McInnes now has two weeks to analyse what went so badly wrong at Parkhead.

He said: "We set out to try to make things happen, and I thought we caused Celtic a lot of problems. The first goal is always pivotal in these games, and it was self-inflicted.

"They've scored from their first corner. That's three goals they've scored against us from corners (this season), so we've got to learn.

"While there is still a lot to be pleased about, and a lot of positives to be taken from the first half, we shouldn't go in 1-0 down.

"The response in the second half was to try to get back into the game as quickly as possible, and I thought we should have had a penalty at 1-0. It hits Nir Bitton's arm."