Hectic schedule no excuse for unacceptable Celtic defeat - Shinnie

Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie insists that their hectic schedule is "no excuse" for their unacceptable showing against Celtic last time out.

Barry Robson's side, who are competing in the Europa Conference League this season as well as their domestic commitments, were thrashed 6-0 at Celtic Park, seeing them fall to ninth in the league table.

"Of course, we are not going to get away from the fact it has been a gruelling schedule," Shinnie said.

“I think five away games in a row, there’s no getting away from that, but it’s no excuse for that performance.

“If anything, you can maybe tire towards the end, but we looked tired from the start. You can’t blame that on fatigue.

“It’s just not been good enough and overall, like the manager said, not acceptable as a team.

“This is where we want to be. In European competitions and in cup finals, fighting to get into cup finals.

“So we need to deal with it. We can’t use it as an excuse because it is exactly where this club wants to be, so we need to deal with it as a team.”