Robinson faces McInnes’s Rangers in Hampden Premier Sports Cup semi-final

Stephen Robinson’s Aberdeen will meet Derek McInnes’ Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final at Hampden on Saturday 31 October 2026 at 17:30 GMT. Live commentary will be on BBC Radio Scotland and the action can be followed on the BBC Sport app and website.

Ten months ago Robinson celebrated as St Mirren lifted the League Cup in December after his side dismantled Celtic at Hampden, scenes captured with him jumping and singing in the dressing room. On Wednesday night a different Robinson faced the media after Aberdeen lost at home to Falkirk, the fourth time in six home league games they have failed to score, and he conceded patience with his team is wearing thin after three wins in 11 to start the Premiership season.

Robinson stressed his record at Hampden on Friday, noting he is unbeaten in semi-finals at Scotland's national stadium and pointing to past victories over Derek McInnes in cup competitions. Last season Robinson's St Mirren knocked out McInnes' title-chasing Hearts, on penalties, in this very competition on their way to lifting the trophy, and during his time at Motherwell in 2017-18 his side reached both national cup finals, hammering McInnes' Aberdeen 3-0 in the quarter-finals of the League Cup and the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup; Pedro Caixinha's Rangers were beaten 2-0 in the semi-final of the former that same season.

A year ago Robinson constructed a gameplan in the League Cup semi-finals to overrun Motherwell and his side demolished them 4-1 at Hampden, before the 3-1 final win over Celtic. On his ability to prepare teams for one-off matches he said: "I have done it before - every semi or final I have been in the teams that I was with, Motherwell and St Mirren, were not expected to win," Robinson said. "So I know how to motivate teams, the staff know how to get teams to believe."

Doubts persist over whether this Aberdeen squad can reproduce those performances; the article notes toughness, organisation, relentless running, and incisive direct attacking are not qualities this team have shown regularly. Robinson has at times appeared unsure of his best team, formation, and approach with half-time changes and tweaks common; defensively and at set-pieces the numbers say they have improved on last season, but their creativity and goalscoring has not, and when they have opened up, like against Dundee United a week ago, their defence has suffered.

The absence of defender Mats Knoester in particular is described as a grievous blow to Aberdeen's hopes of staying resilient against a Rangers side unbeaten in 10 games and "scoring more goals than when the sides last met at Pittodrie at the end of August." The frustrated Red Army will be vastly outnumbered at Hampden, and the piece suggests that if Robinson were to win in these circumstances it "would not just be another magnificent achievment but a potential turning point in his Aberdeen career."

The article places equal pressure on McInnes, stating that "one league title, one Scottish Cup, and one League Cup in 14 years is an embarrassing trophy return for Rangers given the money the club have spent," and that McInnes is the latest manager charged with changing that after "two trophyless campaigns at Ibrox, last season being the first under American ownership who have invested heavily." Despite coming close with Hearts last term, McInnes only has one major trophy to his name—the League Cup he won in 2014 when in charge of Aberdeen.

Rangers removed rivals 3-0 in the quarter-finals with a rousing win at Ibrox that the article says helped change the direction of their season, and McInnes acknowledged the importance of silverware: "To get the first trophy would be so important, reinforcing confidence, reinforcing belief," the Rangers boss admitted. "Traditionally, semi-finals can be fraught with a lot of nerves and tension and sometimes they're not the best games, because of what's at stake."

McInnes is described as leading an "expensively assembled but relatively inexperienced team" that were at times spooked at a raucous Tynecastle on Wednesday and were fortunate to claim a late draw, while in the two Old Firm wins this season they looked physically dominant and completely assured. A defeat now would set McInnes and this Rangers team back and erode hard-earned trust with fans, but a victory would set up a December final date against Hearts or Hibernian, which the article says "presents a magnificent opportunity for McInnes to make an early mark at Ibrox."