This is why Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes doesn't want Hearts to get relegated

Dons boss knows Jambos bring a lot to league

30/03/19 LADBROKES PREMIERSHIP HEARTS V ABERDEEN TYNECASTLE PARK - EDINBURGH Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes has explained why he doesn’t want Hearts to get relegated.

The Jambos are currently four points adrift at the foot of the Ladbrokes Premiership and are staring demotion in the face.

With Scottish football currently inactive due to the coronavirus crisis, some suggestions have been made the league will be finished “as is”, meaning Hearts would be start next season in the Championship.

UEFA are keen for all European leagues to be played to a conclusion, but with no end in sight to the Covid-19 pandemic that has swept across the world, football authorities may be forced to prematurely conclude their domestic campaigns.

McInnes, however, feels that would be grossly unfair – and the Dons boss revealed he doesn’t even want Daniel Stendel’s men to exit the league.

“I think if there’s a way it can be finished, then we can’t give up on that too soon,” McInnes said.

“That’s the hope but we’re all realistic enough to know that, as the weeks go by, that’s becoming less likely.

“There are some tough decisions to be made if that isn’t going to be the case.

“It won’t please everyone but, ultimately, those decisions have to be made if this is going to continue as long as we now expect it to.

“At the top, I think if Rangers and Celtic had been even closer together, it would have been a tougher decision.

“I think the likelihood is that Celtic would go on and win the league.

“So I think that decision, unless you’re a Rangers supporter, might be easier to deal with and I see a lot of common sense in that.

“Hearts still had the ability to get themselves out of trouble, although they've been in and around the bottom for quite a while.

“I don’t want to see Hearts relegated.

“I think they’re a fantastic club that can offer so much to the league.

“The alternatives everybody’s looking at are a 14-team league or whether we have to go as we do normally with announcing champions and the team that’s relegated.”