Derek McInnes insists Lewis Ferguson was "born to play at Hampden" after the teenager popped up to head Aberdeen into the Betfred Cup Final.

The Dons boss was ecstatic to see his players hold off Rangers on the big stage at the national stadium and seal a fourth final appearance in five years.

Aberdeen stood strong as Steven Gerrard's side upped the tempo in the second half. But with the Ibrox side struggling to find a cutting edge, Ferguson showed them the way to goal with a powerful header 12 minutes from time.

The summer signing from Hamilton Accies outjumped Lassana Coulibaly and Connor Goldson to head home.

And McInnes insists the 19-year-old - son of ex-Rangers star Derek - is built for the big stage.

He said: "Lewis is terrific. For someone so young he handles the game absolutely fine.

"He is someone who is only going to get better. He's a dream of a boy, I absolutely trust him. He is a natural footballer born to play at Hampden.

"People always make reference to his dad being a fantastic player. But we should be talking about Lewis more. He is a terrific kid and is important for me to have those good young ones."

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Aberdeen will now face Celtic in the final on December 2 after the Hoops disposed of Hearts 3-0 earlier in the day.

McInnes knows the size of the task ahead but is hopeful his players can hit a run of form going into the match with Celtic targeting a seventh successive domestic trophy.

The Hoops beat Aberdeen in both cup finals two season ago but McInnes said: "We were up against the best Celtic team of a generation that year, they were outstanding. I do feel losing the two finals that year was tough on us.

"Do I think we can beat Celtic over a cup tie? Absolutely.

"I think Celtic like ourselves are fighting for that bit of form. Injuries have impacted on them like it has on us.

"We just need to try and make sure we are in better form than we are at the minute when the game comes around.

"If we are going to win the cup, to beat Hibs, Rangers and Celtic - then nobody can say we wouldn't deserve it."

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