SEGREGATION will mean Sunday's League Cup final at Celtic Park is not played in front of a capacity crowd - with thousands of fans locked out.

That's a big mistake, in the eyes of the chairman of the League Managers' Association, Alex Smith.

The man who led Aberdeen to League Cup glory in 1989 is not surprised the Dons have sold their 40,000 allocation, nor that their opponents, Inverness, have seen all 7500 allocated to them snapped up.

The Dons want more. But, the authorities are demanding seats between rival fans remain empty.

Smith is disappointed, and said: "It's a poor reflection on us we can't sell every ticket.

"I can understand the safety aspect of it, but this is a cup final. It's Aberdeen and Inverness.

"They're not coming down for trouble. There's no history of violence between them.

"We have to get back to the days when football people could go to the games and mingle.

"We can't afford to turn away people who want to pay in to Scottish football because we're all desperate for money."

Another ex-Dons boss, Craig Brown, hopes those lucky enough to get tickets are treated to a show. He predicts his successor at Pittodrie, Derek McInnes, will be in line to pick up even more prizes before the season ends.

Brown said of the man who, in his first full year at the club has also led them to the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup: "I think Derek is on his way to being Manager of the Year.

"Touch wood, they won't trip up on Sunday. Even if they did, in my opinion he is still quite clearly Manager of the Year."