McInnes ready to reject fresh offers for McKenna in the Summer
Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes admits he expects to have to fend off fresh offers for defender Scott McKenna this summer.
The 21-year-old this week capped an impressive break-through season with a PFA Scotland young player of the year award nomination.
But McInnes knows that will only alert fresh suitors to the new Scotland cap's burgeoning potential having knocked back a number of bids from Hull back in January.
However, with McKenna tied down on a new deal until 2023, the Pittodire boss is confident he will be able to persuade the centre-back to continue his footballing education with the Reds.
He said: "Next season people will be looking at him a bit closer because the spotlight has been on him, so it is up to Scott to replicate his form and that is the challenge for him and for any young player.
"There will be challenges ahead. We will get offers, as we have done in the past, but we can decide with Scott what is best for him.
"Thankfully Scott has re-signed again, and he has the maturity and patience to remain here and the intelligence to know that he is far from the finished article.
"He will gain experiences good and bad. We will make him a more rounded player and we will make him more ready for what he will face in the future.
"Scott can also get a lot of that experience through international football now that Alex McLeish has made him a firm part of the Scotland set-up. But he can also get highly competitive games here and hopefully European football. He will play a key part in key games, especially the ones coming up.''
Friday night's clash with Hearts at Pittodrie comes into that bracket but McInnes is not concerned about turning the heat up on Rangers and Hibernian - because he believes it will take maximum points to guarantee second spot.
The Dons are first into action this weekend, meaning they have the opportunity to put pressure on their rivals ahead of Hibs' Easter Road clash with Kilmarnock on Saturday and Rangers trip to Celtic Park the day after.
However, McInnes said: "I am not thinking about the other games this weekend. We all play the same amount of games and we all play each other.
"For me it is all about trying to get the three points and building on last week's performance and result.
"We know the importance of winnings games. One point is not enough at the minute. The games have to be won and we want to win tomorrow.
"Hearts are a side who are maybe looking from the outside in a bit, but there is no doubting they are a very good side on their day. They showed that against us a couple of weeks ago.
"They did not quite get to that same level against Rangers last week but there is no doubt Hearts have got the experience and ability to be doing much better."